Keith Thurman: “I believe win, lose or draw, if I fought Floyd Mayweather, it would be the toughest challenge of his career”

Jenna J5710 mins

(by Robert Brown) I had a chance to speak with interim WBA champ, Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, ahead of his December 13th fight against Leonard Bundu. Fighting for the second in 2014, Thurman is looking to move up the ladder in the welterweight division and possibly have a match with the best in the division. Topics discussed in this interview include, Thurman’s bout with Leonard Bundu, a possible fight between Keith and pound-for-pound stars, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. ‘One Time’ also discusses a possible bout with Timothy Bradley and Marcos Maidana. Here is what Keith Thurman had to say.

Robert Brown: First off Keith, how is your shoulder doing now?

Keith Thurman: The shoulder’s doing good. We recovered pretty well, it was pretty much inflammation that made my left shoulder sore. We went through six weeks of physical therapy; I had my massage therapist work on it. It’s feeling great, I’m looking forward to stepping back in the ring on the 13th.

Robert Brown: This shoulder injury won’t affect your power will it?

Keith Thurman: No, we just had to stop punching for a little while and go through some therapy and rehab. Once that the rehab was done and we were recovered, we were able to go back to normal and do what we do.

Robert Brown: You’re going to be fighting a guy who’s been around the block many times in Leonard Bundu. Is there any danger that you’re looking past Bundu in this fight?

Keith Thurman: He is well experienced and a seasoned fighter. He’s a 2000 Olympian. He understands the sport very well. Even though he’s an older gentleman, he still has a pretty decent work rate, he moves a lot. He seems to be in pretty decent shape. I don’t expect nothing out of the norm. I expect him to be the boxer that he normally is, he does a lot of short stepping, in and out, he does a lot of feints and I’m really looking forward to mixing it up with him on Saturday night.

He doesn’t have tremendous power, but he did drop Frankie Gavin with a nice body shot, so I think he has a medium punch and if placed well, it’s obvious that he can create a knockdown. He does have eleven stoppages but he didn’t stop Gavin and I don’t know who he really stopped. I know I’m the bigger puncher and I believe that I’m gonna do most of the damage in the fight.

Robert Brown: This fight is for the WBA interim title. The champion is Floyd Mayweather, do you expect to be getting a shot with Floyd Mayweather in the future?

Keith Thurman: Definitely. I would love to have the opportunity, I work hard, I’m the number one contender, I do believe that I deserve the opportunity. There’s a lot of politics, I know they’re really trying to push the Manny Pacquiao fight.

I understand the politics of the sport, I’m not gonna whine and complain if he doesn’t pick me next, I’m just gonna do what I’m supposed to do December 13th but I am focused on hopefully getting a Mayweather fight in 2015. He has two fights left and I would love to be one of them, and we’re gonna do the best that we can to make that happen.

Robert Brown: Do you firmly believe that you have what it takes to beat Mayweather if given the opportunity?

Keith Thurman: Definitely, because I have power. Power can always beat anybody, but you have to land, you got to land the punch. I see that I only need to land one punch, so I definitely am a threat.

Canelo was a puncher but Canelo wasn’t as agile as I am in the ring and his hands were slower, he doesn’t use the same tactics that I would use up against Floyd. I believe win, lose or draw, if Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman fought Floyd Mayweather, it would be the toughest challenge of his career.

Robert Brown: If you don’t get Mayweather, would you like to face Pacquiao?

Keith Thurman: There’s several people that would love to see me face Pacquiao. I’d face Pacquiao, I like his fighting style, I don’t see him as a tremendous threat. I see him as a skillful fighter but we’ve seen it before, he’s a beatable fighter.

I would love to fight Pacquiao, but I’d be a little but more interested in fighters like Marcos Maidana. I read an article saying that Maidana’s team would be willing to negotiate a fight contract with me. I’m not looking past Bundu but I’ve been wanting to fight Maidana for a long time, so if that fight could happen, I would really look forward to that one.

Robert Brown: I think a fight between you and Timothy Bradley would be a good fight, what are you thoughts on that fight?

Keith Thurman: You’re right, that would be a great fight. I think it would be an interesting fight. Timothy Bradley is a tremendous athlete but once again, he’s a beatable fighter. I believe that Timothy doesn’t always box the smartest in the ring. Sometimes he does what he wants to do instead of doing what he should do to win.

He’s shown it, sometimes he gets away with it because he goes from doing the wrong thing to going back and doing the right thing and pulling off the victory, I’m pretty much talking about the Provodnikov fight where he was sitting there brawling with him and got dropped several times and was able to get up and box smart and win the match. He’s a great fighter and that would be a terrific fight for me as well.

57 thoughts on “Keith Thurman: “I believe win, lose or draw, if I fought Floyd Mayweather, it would be the toughest challenge of his career””

    1. Agree…b4 you face the pacman fight the best fighter in your category and Bradley and Provo too…its a long list b4 u become worthy to face pacman.

      1. You can say the same thing to pacman lol. His last 2 fights wher against soft fighters with no threat. He should’ve fought canelo like floyd did but we all know he would’ve been ko’d again lol.

  6. …nAh, he’s saying that he is a threat to Gayfloyd because he has power yet he doesnt see Pacquaio as a tremendous threat simply because Manny is beatable. Well Keith all fighters are beatable even the self-proclaimed TBE. This is the reason behind Mayweather’s refusal to fight Pacquiao because he fears Manny will beat his ass. Power doesnt always win a fight, Gayfloyd could also knock you out Mr. Thurman so is Pacquiao!…

    1. Dickhead statement !.If floyd is so scared of of getting his ass beat by pacquio how come he refought Maidana straight away in a rematch arguably his hardest test to date ? He fears no one ! Why don’t you call him gaylord to his face !

      1. He gave him the rematch so he could skip over pacquiao AGAIN. And de la hoya or jose luis castillo was his hardest match. Smh. Nobody wanted to see that rematch cause floyd lost the 1st time to a nobody.

  9. I wanted to see Thurman face Manny Pacquiao not because I see Keith as a threat. Thurman is nothing but a number on Manny Pacquiao’s stat of undefeated, fell short.
    Just get in line, boy. Manny will give a beating after Danny Garcia.

  10. Its was very interesting he would rather face maidana then pacquiao.
    where is the logic in that..he would get fame and money and beat a legend.. does hefeelhes not ready for pac?

  11. Beatable, if you have that much luck, which I think you know you don’t have, so just settle it with maidana, you’ll be doing yourself a big favor if keep out of pacquiao’s way.

  15. I agree Turman, Pac-tard is no threat. He’s pretty much running around looking for a big payday for his back taxes. Now he’s ready for Money when he’s out of money and clean of steroids but it won’t help because Money is punish this lying, cheating little basted but don’t worry after Floyd embarrasses his it’s going to be easy to get a Pac-tards fight. Thurman would do Pac-tard just like Marquez did bit sooner.

    1. Pacman is a God here in the Philippines stupid. He is already rich . People just want a piece of it thats why . Do you think he is stupid to just give it what he have earn with blood and sweat

  16. Its easy to say beatable… try it on the ring… it will be different …. prove your worth first before fighting pacman… your just about to move up…hold your horses….

  17. isn’t obvious that this guy is afraid of pacquiao? chickencrap! hate to have the same name as you, coward! hell, I’d fight pacquiao just for kicks even tho he’s sure to fuck me up really bad, lol!

  19. Most young boxers in planet says the same thing about Pacquiao. You’re too young about the experiences in the battlefield. Even your friend Mayweather was never been there. Think about it. Pacquiao was already a war veteran in boxing.

    1. Pac ain’t trying to risk fighting a knock out solid brother like Keith t. He doesn’t take chances like that anymore. His career would fall overnight

      1. U knuckle heads are not students of boxing. Your likeness of Pac ignores the fact although he has great offense ,he doesn’t have equal defense ,like Floyd’s. Therefore he loses by decision all day. 8 to 4rds

      2. Exactly right especially after Marquez knockout and embarrasment ! why did he even bother fighting algieri who should not have even been in there with him.Thurman is too dangerous for pacquio!

  21. All you have to do is study the Bradley ,Pac fight… Bradley is a good defensive fighter. Pac in two fights has not landed one monster shot. Floyd is a great defensive fighter…. u do the math dummies. Floyd comes out victorious as I stated b4. B a student b4 u become a expert on this boxing game

    1. Is that so.. why is the fight still not happening… if you think that way. pac was ready to fight i dont no about floyd does he like to fight pac?

      1. Because floyd is the boss and decides what he wants when he wants ! And besides everyone wants a shot at the king !

  25. Lmfao…you are in no way in the same league with Pacman & Floyd. Dreaming of fighting maidana! Lolz… If u do not dream of fighting either Floyd or Pacman, then you are not aiming to be the best!

  26. in my opinion ,if floyd will fight algieri ,floyd might lose the fight.The way algieri fought pacman floyd will not win for sure because they were the same defensive fighter they may not punch each other.While algieri got the reach advantage will win by decision.

  28. Pac man’s last 2 fight were title holders, idiots! They only seems soft after he got done with them. Of course the only fight people wanna see is the mayweather fight, but floyd has to sign first! After Paxman beats floyd what r u idiots gonna say? Floyd was over the hill, wasn’t the same anymore blah blah blah. Lol

  29. I agree. Pac last 2 fights were title holders. What a bunch of idiots. They were good fighters and. … yes, Manny made them look like rookies. Floyd knows that and Thurman better be careful coz facing Pac can ruin your health. Everyone that fights Pac either walks out badly hurt or even in wheelchair. Believe that.

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