By Ian S Palmer
Undefeated American welterweight prospect Keith Thurman will take on Mexican veteran Jesus Soto-Karass on Saturday, December 14 as he attempts to defend his WBA Interim Welterweight Title at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The 12-round bout can be seen on the Showtime network in the USA and on Super Channel in Canada.
The 25-year-old Thurman enters the ring with a perfect record of 21-0 along with 19 Kos since turning pro back in 2007. His last outing was a 10th-round stoppage over Diego Chaves and he’s considered to be one of the best young American boxers at the moment. He’ll have his hands full against the 31-year-old Soto Karass and this should be a good test for the youngster.
Soto-Karass has a 28-8-3 record along with 18 Kos to his name and comes into the bout with just four wins in his last nine contests, but he’s won four out of his past five. His popularity has risen as he’s taken on some of the toughest opponents around in Marcos Maidana, Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto and managed to beat Berto and Aydin but was stopped in eight rounds by Maidana in a slugfest. He’s certainly been involved in some exciting fights lately.
Soto-Karass is a fan favourite due to his high punch output while Thurman is also pretty exciting with his speed and accuracy. Also, let’s not forget the power he possesses as we can see by the 19 Kos in 21 bouts. Soto Karass also has pretty good power, but many of his stoppages come from an accumulation of punches.
Soto-Karass will need to dictate the pace and keep his hands up to be successful against Thurman while the champion will be throwing quick combinations and using his mobility and footwork to slip and slide away from the challenger’s shots. Thurman has the better all-round boxing skills here, but Soto-Karass is very determined, has a lot of heart and can take a solid punch.
The styles of the boxers should produce an interesting and action-packed fight with quite a lot of punches being thrown. Soto-Karass is pretty hard to slow down once he gets on a roll and gains confidence. Thurman will need to start quickly to make sure this doesn’t happen. He can do this by nailing Soto Karass early on with a few solid power shots.
Soto-Karass is good at just about everything in the sport, but he’s not exceptional at any one specific skill. Thurman edges him in just about every aspect, but he’s never been tested by somebody with Soto-Karass’ experience and durability as of yet. He seems to have a solid chin, but again, he’s never really been hit flush on it so far. Soto-Karass will push him to the limit and while both men have good power, this could very well go the distance.
With Thurman having the edge in the skill department as well as power it would be easy to predict him as the winner. However, Soto-Karass can’t be taken lightly since his will and determination can take him a long way in a bout. He’s also got a couple of inches advantage in the reach and height departments. Soto-Karass needs to throw as many punches as he usually does, which is up to 100 a round, to keep Thurman on the back foot. There could be a knockdown or two along the way, but in the end look for Thurman to take the exciting bout by a unanimous decision or late stoppage.
http://youtu.be/qh8n2K-pxuw
