Keith Thurman made his long-awaited return to the ring in March after a three year hiatus.
The 36-year-old from Florida defeated Australia’s Brock Jarvis via third round stoppage in their super-welterweight showdown at The Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on March 12, putting an end to several years of inactivity for ‘One Time.’
Thurman’s prior outing came against reigning WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, who is set to controversially face Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao in the next defence of his crown on July 19.
‘Pac-Man’ became the first man to defeat Thurman when they locked horns for the WBA welterweight title back in 2019. Pacquiao was declared the winner via split decision to become the oldest world welterweight champion in boxing history at 40-years-old, a record he will attempt to break against Barrios.
Speaking about the fight, Thurman admitted that whilst Pacquiao did punch hard, the hardest hitter he has ever faced is two-division champ Danny Garcia, who he beat eight years ago.
“Pacquiao, he does hit hard, he hits fast, but as a welterweight it’s not the hardest punch I’ve ever felt.
“The hardest punch I ever felt coming from a little guy like Pacquiao, I never felt power from a little guy, the way I felt it from Pacquiao, but Danny Garcia the way he plants his feet and it’s almost like a power card.
“The way he develops torque into his punches, he’s not even a real welterweight and to me he was the hardest hitting welterweight that I faced.”
After winning world titles at super-lightweight and welterweight, Garcia made the move up to middleweight to face WBA champion Erislandy Lara last September, but was stopped at the end of the ninth round after his corner pulled their man out of the fight. Whilst he has not officially retired, many feel it is round the corner after a fantastic career.
