I’ve never been a big fan of Keith Thurman, he went from “One Time” to “Run Time” and used to say “Knockout’s for Life,” but he hasn’t shown that killer mentality since he started worrying about his unbeaten record.
I also don’t like him ducking Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford. Anytime those two names come up he starts stuttering and avoids calling them out.
On July 20th, Thurman has a 40-year-old has been in front of him, some can say a legend, I say a carefully manufactured hype job in Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.
This fight should be easy work for Thurman. There is a reason his confidence is so high, he knows that Pacquiao is an easy fight for him.
He knows Pacquiao is no killer and the weakest of the current welterweights. If he was in against some real bad boys who could hurt him like Spence or Crawford then he wouldn’t be talking slick like that.
Thurman is correct, Pacquiao has low ring IQ, and his arms are short like a T-Rex. Another thing is Pacquiao is not the real WBA welterweight champion, he just holds a regular interim belt, Thurman holds the real WBA title. So Pacman is a paper champ in the division.
Anyone with boxing knowledge can see that Pacquiao has to lunge in from 5 feet away with that straight left and it leaves his face wide open for vicious uppercut or straight right hand.
All Thurman has to do is time him coming in and its over. I see him also pressuring Pacquiao early to put fear in the 40-year-old Filipino Senator and make him afraid of getting knocked out against like in the fourth Juan Manuel Marquez fight.
What made me have even more confidence in picking Thurman to win was the things he said leading up to the fight. He said Manny Pacquiao hasn’t had his chin tested yet. This is correct, every fight since the Juan Manuel Marquez knockout has been a cherry pick to avoid any real threat to his already shattered chin.
Nobody tested his chin and the moment he did get hit he got hurt bad but he is a master of disguising it. I seen him get stunned and scared by a Brandon Rios short job, and I also saw Pacquiao get hurt by Jeff Horn multiple times and having to hold on. Floyd Mayweather hurt Pacquiao with a straight right hand and it made Pacman hesitant to press the action.
Thurman will hurt Pacquiao early to make him feel his power, and this will put Pacman in defensive mode where he just moves his head side to side and tries to use feints while jabbing at air. Pacquiao has won rounds in the past with this tactic of not really landing punches but looking busy and the judges fall for it, but Thurman will make sure that there is no doubt who the victor is by making Pacman pay for each feint.
Look for the fight to be one sided with Thurman hurting Pacquiao early and making him miss with those T-rex arms with Thurman either winning by KO or Pacquiao quitting on his stool before he gets knocked out.
I love the sweet science of boxing and enjoy sharing my opinion on it. Boricua!