By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBA Super World Welterweight Titleholder Keith Thurman of Clearwater, Florida takes on the legendary Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada this Saturday, July 20th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the USA on Fox Pay Per View. Thurman’s last action came in when he beat veteran Josesito Lopez by a 12-round majority decision in January. Pacquiao, a southpaw, also fought in January when he defended his WBA Welterweight Crown against former world champion Adrien Broner by way of unanimous decision.
The 30-year-old Thurman will enter the ring with a perfect record of 29-0 with 22 Kos. He won his title with a unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero in March, 2015 and has defended it against Lopez, Luis Collazo, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia. He also took Garcia’s WBC world title with the win. Thurman’s a skilled boxer/puncher who combines speed and power to produce a fan-friendly style. He’s got the power to stop most opponents and the boxing skill to wins decisions if he has to go the distance. He’s not known as a KO artist, but owns an impressive knockout ratio of 73 per cent.
Thurman possesses an effective jab which he often doubles or triples up on. He likes to back his foe up with the jab and then unleash power shots or quick combinations to the head and body. He’s also an effective counterpuncher and an intelligent boxer overall who can throw punches from a wide variety of angles. His hardest shot is the left hook and his mobility makes him one of boxing’s best prospects at the moment. He’s not the easiest guy to hit, and so far his chin has appeared to be pretty solid but Lopez did appear to have him hurt in January.
He’s boxed 148 rounds since turning pro in 2007 following an excellent amateur career that saw him go 101-6 with half of those losses coming to Demetrius Andrade. Thurman is just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with a reach of 69 inches. He’s also won a few regional and minor titles since turning pro including the WBO NABO Super Welterweight Championship as well as the WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight Title. He’s 5-0 in world title fights with 1 KO and is 7-0 against former or current world champions with 3 Kos. He’s also beaten Julio Diaz, Jesus Soto-Karass, Diego Chaves and Carlos Quintana.
Ring legend Pacquiao is now 40 years old and will climb through the ring ropes with a record of 61-7-2 with 39 Kos. He’s still an excellent boxer with fine skills and speed, but Pacquiao’s power hasn’t been evident for quite some time even with the stoppage of Lucas Matthysse in the seventh round last summer. His last KO victory before that was eight years earlier when he stopped Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in the 12th round in 2009. Still, his knockout ratio currently stands at a decent 56 per cent, but he can’t really depend on his power to be the difference maker anymore.
Pacquiao’s chin has held up well since Juan Manuel Marquez landed the perfect punch on him in the sixth round back in December of 2012, but he’s been stopped in three of his seven career losses. Since he’s been on the canvas a few times during his career he needs to keep his focus at all times and make sure he doesn’t leave himself wide open for a Thurman power shot. His key to winning this fight will be his speed and chin as he’ll need to strike quickly and move out of range.
Pacquiao stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall and owns a 67-inch reach so he gives up two inches to Thurman in both height and reach. He’s boxed 474 rounds since he turned pro back in 1995. He has tons of big-fight experience against the best in the world after winning world titles in eight weight classes. Pacquiao has simply faced all the top boxers of his era and has lost just seven times. Like himself, a good number of his past opponents will be ending up in the hall of fame and this is what makes him a boxing legend. He’s fleet of foot with great hand speed and controls most fights with his right jab, stinging left hand and lightning-quick combinations.
Prediction…
Even though Pacquiao’s 40 years old he’s still a world class boxer. Thurman is too though and is 10 years younger. Pacquiao has been stopped a few times and Thurman was rocked against Lopez so chins will obviously be a factor here. Speed will be too and if Pacquiao can match Thurman in this department his chances if winning increase. Therefore this fight may be decided on determination and the willingness to throw punches. Whoever takes the initiative and attacks first is likely to win this bout and whoever chooses to wait and counter may regret it. No outcome will be a surprise but purely based on Thurman’s performance against Lopez and Pacquiao’s against Broner I’d give Pacquiao a slight edge.
