With former welterweight titleholder Keith Thurman set to make his return to the ring after over two years of inactivity, scheduled for a bout with Mario Barrios on Feb. 5, Thurman gives a public statement on coming back after losing in his biggest career fight against Manny Pacquiao and how despite that pain of receiving his first defeat, he still has the resolve to climb back up the ladder. Check out what Thurman had to say about his career below.
“After my first career loss against Manny Pacquiao I got a lot of love, I got a lot of respect. A pinnacle moment in my career, to fall that short, should’ve been a moment of glory — it was painful. I’m a competitor, it’s in the past. The sport of boxing, my legacy, it’s not over. The story is still being written. 2022 we got a new chapter, Keith Thurman, I’m gonna show you what I can do with the time that I have left in my career. It’s not over.
“In camp there’s always a progression with how fast you are, how sharp you are, how many punches you’re taking, how many punches you’re giving. And week by week we’re getting sharper, we’re getting faster, we’ve dropped some weight and we feel it. We feel more explosive, we feel more alert, progressing to the day of the fight where I’ll be my ultimate and my better self.
“Being a 33 year old fighter I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel any different., What I feel is definitely a lot more wisdom, more experience, and that’s what this camp is all about — is bringing out the best of myself into the ring and with my age and my wisdom and my knowledge I’m able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together so that I can make a statement and show them the a belt, without the belt, I’m one of the greatest welterweights in the welterweight division today.
“Feb. 5th is gonna be a great night, it’s gonna be a great show. This sport is one of the toughest sports in the world. Mario Barrios, coming off his first career loss, myself coming off my first career loss — that means two individuals are striving to get back, to get that recoginition, to get that respect that they deserve, and one man can win it. It’s gonna be a war. Them boys are gonna be going toe-to-toe, blow-for-blow. So if you’re looking for action, if you’re looking for entertainment, you’re gonna want to tune into our show Feb. 5th.”