Posted on 08/01/2022
By: Sean
There’s an expression in Hollywood – if you’re going to steal, steal from the best. Keith Thurman has apparently taken those words to heart. Danny Garcia returned to the ring after a lengthy absence Saturday night, beating Jose Benavidez in impressive fashion. In the post fight interview, the fighter known as “Swift” expressed interest in meeting Thurman for a second time. The next day Thurman responded in a fashion that would put a smile on Muhammad Ali’s face:
“I’m too pretty,” he tweeted. “I’m too blessed DSG can never pass the Keith Thurman test! I beat that boy with bone spurs, I wasn’t even at my best. man my IQ is even higher, his feet are slow like a flat tire. This is not a game, it’s not Street Fighter—but I will hit you with that yoga (fire).”
It appears, then, that Thurman is at least somewhat open to the idea of meeting Garcia once more in the ring. Although neither fighter is as relevant as he once was, a second fight between the two notables is an enticing possibility for fans. Each guy is arguably still relevant enough to become world champion again, after all (each fighter has held at least one world title belt during the course of his career).
“I’d like to have a rematch with Keith Thurman,” Garcia said to Showtime’s Tom Gray during the tearful post fight interview on Saturday, where the Philly native admitted to struggling with anxiety and depression. There’s now doubt the first fight between the two men, which went down in 2017, was a close affair between two welterweights at the top of their respective games. Thurman ended up walking out of the ring that night at Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center with a unanimous decision win. The now 34 year old Garcia is eager to even the score.
There was a time not all that long ago when both Thurman and Garcia could rightfully argue to be the best welterweight in the business. Time has made all things clear, however. Garcia ended up dropping decisions to Thurman, Shawn Porter, and eventually Errol Spence Jr while Thurman ended up being surprised by Manny Pacquiao in 2019. Still, if you look at each man’s resume, neither has been bested by anyone far from the top of the welterweight heap. In other words, a rematch between the two in 2022 or early 2023 would not be past the sell-by date.