Thurman set for ‘legacy fight’
30-year-old will face Pacquiao for super welterweight championship Saturday
The words echo in the boxer’s head again and again – just as clear as they did during every training session during his childhood and before every bout during his teens.
“Go out there and show them your power, boy,” Ben Getty would always tell Keith Thurman. “Then we’ll see what they want to do.”
Getty introduced a 7-year-old Thurman to boxing while the Vietnam veteran worked as the head custodian and simultaneously ran an after-school boxing program at Belleair Elementary in Clearwater, Florida. When Thurman flourished and began competing on the youth circuit, Getty served as his trainer. The young boxer climbed the amateur ranks and by 18 turned pro, with Getty always in his corner.
The trainer died 10 years ago, right around the time Thurman started making a name for himself as a pro fighter. But Getty’s words never fade. Some of that has to do with repetition.
“Luckily for me, Ben Getty was an old man – an old, short Italian man – and he liked to say the same thing over and over,” Thurman told USA TODAY in a recent telephone interview.
“I used to call him a broken record,” Thurman added with a laugh. But Thurman still lives by his old trainer’s words.
Now 30 years old, Thurman owns a 29-0 record (22 knockouts) and holds the WBA world welterweight title. He’s just days away from the biggest fight of his life – a meeting with Manny Pacquiao for the world super welterweight championship, which will take place at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and air as a pay-per-view event on Fox Sports.
Thurman’s plan remains the same, however. He plans to show Pacquiao his power, just as Getty would tell him, and then he plans to react, displaying a diverse arsenal.
If successful, Thurman can define his career.
“This fight is more than just being a champion. This is a legacy fight,” Thurman explained. “I’m the undefeated WBA super welterweight champion of the world, but even that said, Manny Pacquiao has accomplished more than I have throughout his career and more than most people will accomplish in a lifetime. … Eight-time world champion in six different divisions? Definitely a Hall of Famer. But for me myself, man. I’m just living the dream, being the best fighter I can be, having the tremendous opportunity to face Manny Pacquiao.”
The respect conveyed by Thurman contrasts greatly from the trash-talk that he has fired Pacquiao’s way in the weeks leading up to the fight.
In interviews and in news conferences, Thurman has described 40-yearold Pacquiao as everything from a dinosaur to a dodo bird. He has predicted he will send Pacquiao into retirement.
In truth, that’s just gamesmanship – Thurman’s attempt to annoy and frustrate Pacquiao. Thurman is well aware that even at this stage of his career, Pacquiao remains a formidable opponent. That’s why despite his perfect record, youth and size advantage, Thurman is the underdog.
Thurman rocks the ring name “One Time,” largely because he began his pro career with eight consecutive firstround knockouts, and he is regarded as a powerful puncher. His star has dimmed some thanks to a 22-month layoff while recovering from elbow surgery and a hand injury.
Thurman returned to action in January and displayed obvious rust against Josesito Lopez but still won by decision. But some within the boxing community still question whether he’s up for the monumental task of defeating the legendary Pacquiao.
“Manny is in the fourth quarter of his career. But that doesn’t mean Manny can’t still fight,” Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, the former WBA lightweight champ and current Fox Sports boxing analyst, told USA TODAY. “Manny can fight his ass off. Here’s the dangerous part for Keith. It’s only his second fight after being off for almost two years. The Lopez fight gave him some challenges. Manny will punch holes in him if he comes out like he did in that fight.” Thurman has heard the doubters. “I’ve heard people call me ‘Sometime Thurman’ and ‘Once Upon a Time Thurman.’ But that doesn’t bother me,” he says.
In the mind of Thurman and those in his camp, the Lopez fight served its purpose: It reacclimated him to the ring and knocked off the rust. Now, after months of training and conditioning, he has regained top form.
“Myself, I think it was a blessing,” Thurman’s trainer, Dan Birmingham, told USA TODAY. “The time off rejuvenated Keith’s mind and body. He has shown that in the way he’s been working in the gym and talking. I’ve seen it all. His footwork has gotten better. His hands have gotten better. Manny is a legend, and Keith is going to be a legend someday. Right now, he’s going to be a legend-beater.”
Others, like Tim Smith, vice president of Premiere Boxing Champions, agree that Thurman is ready for this fight. “It was a tough fight and had it been an easy fight for him, it would’ve not been a good thing for this fight because he would’ve thought he could take it easy in training,” Smith told USA TODAY. “He feels like he has to push himself to get back to the Keith Thurman of old, who stepped into the ring (for championship fights) against Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia.”
If Thurman has indeed regained top form, then Saturday’s contest could be great and evenly matched.
Pacquiao boasts great quickness and an aggressive boxing style featuring lightning-fast hands. But Thurman is quick enough to hang with his opponent, and he has a size and strength advantage.
“Keith is a very skilled boxer. He punches hard, he’s solid defense, and he’s seen a lot of different styles,” Smith said. “A lot of the problems that Pacquiao presents for people is his quickness and his speed, and I think Keith has the ability to handle that. He’s quick as well.”
Said Mancini, “I keep going back and forth in my mind. But the question of the fight is this: Is Keith going to knock the building down. Keith can knock the building down. But if Manny has one good one left in him, then I think he beats Keith just because of the experience, the boxing knowledge, the boxing IQ. But if Manny grows old – every fighter grows old in one fight – and if this is the fight that Manny grows old, this is not the guy he wants to do it with. This is not the guy. Keith will knock him dead.”
The opinions of analysts, oddsmakers and fans don’t faze Thurman. His internal strength, the support of those in his camp and the words of Getty drown out all of the outside noise.
When he steps into the ring Saturday night, Thurman, who for every fight wears shorts with Ben Getty’s name stitched on them, will do so brimming with the same confidence that Getty instilled in him at a young age.
“He’d always tell me, ‘You’re a million-dollar fighter, boy.’ And at the age of 14, that was kind of hard to comprehend. I hadn’t even fought for one dollar yet,” Thurman recalled. “But I said to myself, if he believes in me, I should believe in me, and I guess I’ll show up to the gym every day. I committed to the sport.
“I started at the age of 7 and I’m 30 now, so it’s been 23 years devoted to the sport of boxing,” Thurman added. “Now, Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman is coming to put in work and to beat a legend. That’s my focus. …
“We’re going to do everything possible to get the victory in stylish fashion and showcase my skills and passion to the world again.”