THURMAN’S BACK
Thurman is greeted by the belligerent Lopez on his tough er than expected return to the ring
But the welterweight world champion’s return in Brooklyn isn’t all plain sailing
THIS was to be nothing more than a tune-up fight for Keith Thurman, who was defending his WBA welterweight title. Josesito Lopez was expected to offer some resistance, but never seriously threaten him. When all was said and done, Thurman, returning to the ring after a near-two-year layoff due to injuries, announced he was back and ready to do some big-game hunting. However, his building blocks to victory over Lopez did not go as planned in winning a majority decision in front of 9,623 at the Barclays Center (Dibella Entertainment and TGB Promotions).
Let’s discount the absurd scorecard of Don Ackerman, who had them level at 113-113. Tom Schreck (117-109 – same as me) and Steve Weisfeld (115-111) saw it clearly for Thurman, who nevertheless was made to work harder than anyone expected.
Early on, things went according to plan for Thurman, perhaps even better than he had expected. In the second round they exchanged left hooks, with Thurman’s getting there first. Lopez was sent to his knees hurt, struggling up at referee Steve Willis’ count of ‘six’. The bell rang soon after and the Californian was never hurt again.
More than sixand-a-half years ago, Lopez upset Victor Ortiz. As a result of that, he has since been able to garner several fights against big-name opponents, never coming close to winning any, but never embarrassing himself either. Basically, he has developed a reputation as a solid gatekeeper. But midway through the seventh round, Lopez went off script. Until that point, he had been putting on relentless pressure, landing well to the body but unable to cope with his Floridian rival’s much superior speed. Suddenly, Lopez scored with a left hook and a straight right which snapped Thurman’s head back and sent him reeling into the ropes. Clearly hurt, Thurman ran around the ring, with Lopez in hot pursuit. Lopez did all he could to finish the job, scoring heavily and hurting his opponent a couple more times. Thurman managed to hang on until the bell in a round that was scored 10-8 across the board, even in the absence of a knockdown. Armed with the knowledge that he could hurt Thurman, Lopez loaded up with big punches for the remainder of the contest, getting one through now and then, but Thurman’s slashing blows were scoring points. Thurman was hit by a booming right in the final round, but coasted to the final bell. “He had me buzzed and shaken up in the seventh round,” Thurman, 30, graciously admitted. And if a 34-yearold warhorse like Lopez could do that, it
makes you wonder whether the injuries suffered by Thurman have taken a toll.
His flabby appearance withstanding, it is time to take heavyweight Adam
Kownacki very seriously. In fact, at the conclusion of his stoppage win over
Gerald Washington, a high-ranking official within the Premier Boxing Champions team told me that they plan to match the Brooklyn-based Pole against Deontay Wilder within the year. And why not? It took Wilder five rounds to dispose of Washington when they boxed two years ago, while on this night it took Kownacki only two.
Kownacki stole the show. He went right after the much taller Washington, who tried to hold his ground and exchange blows. With half-a-minute remaining in the first round, Kownacki broke through and battered Washington on the ropes, the bell coming to the Californian’s rescue. They went toe-to-toe to start the second, but Kownacki, cut over the left eye, overpowered the bigger man, landing flush shots that dropped Washington heavily. The American struggled up at ‘nine’, but it was stopped seconds later at 1-01 by referee Harvey Dock when Washington sagged on the strands from Kownacki’s attack.
Tugstsogt Nyambayar unanimously outpointed the Dominican Republic’s
Claudio Marrero over 12 spirited rounds in what was a WBC featherweight title eliminator. A 2012 Olympic silver medallist, Nyambayar is now in line to face champion Gary Russell Jnr.
It was reasonably close, but there was no doubt that the California-based Mongolian deserved it. I had it 115-112 – the same as Eric Marlinski. Julie Lederman scored 114-113, while John Poturaj tallied 116-111.
The decisive moment occurred in the 10th round, when Marrero, having been warned previously, had a point deducted by referee Benjy Esteves Jnr for hitting and holding. At that moment, you could feel the fight slipping away from Marrero.
When the action was slow and tactical, Marrero, working behind the jab, seized control. However, Nyambayar’s quick bursts were more eye -atching whenever the pace quickened.
With 35 seconds left in the fight, Nyambayar, bruised under the cheek, began a premature celebration, parading around the ring. He had every right to be pleased with his performance, but so did Marrero, who fought well but came up just a bit short. Super-featherweight prospects Chris
Colbert (Brooklyn) and Josh Hernandez (Chicago) went at it strongly for all eight rounds. Although the action went back and forth, Colbert’s firepower was greater. Judges John Mckaie, Kevin Morgan and Waleska Roldan all had it 79-73 for Colbert. Eric Dali refereed.
THE VERDICT Thurman gets the job done amid some alarm bells.