You can add Bob Arum’s name to those people who were not too impressed by Keith Thurman’s ring return on Saturday night. As fans who watched the Thurman/Josesito Lopez fight know, WBA welterweight champ Thurman, who was having his first fight back in 22-months, got rocked badly in the seventh-round and took numerous shots throughout the 12-rounder. Thurman did score an early-round knockdown over the tough and game Lopez, with a left hook doing the damage, but otherwise “One Time” was unable to hurt the 18/1 underdog.
One judge even had the fight all-even at 113-113 which, though too close, showed how competitive the fight was in the eyes of some. Thurman spoke afterwards about his desire to fight living legend and all-time great Manny Pacquiao, and it is possible this fight could take place sooner rather than later. And now all of a sudden, after Thurman’s harder than expected battle with Lopez and Pacquiao’s zestful showing against Adrien Broner, Manny winning a clear UD a week before Thurman’s comeback bout, there are plenty of people who feel Pac Man can and will defeat Thurman. Arum is one of these people and he says Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach agrees with him.
Speaking with Fight Hub, the Top Rank boss went as far as to say he does not think Thurman “can keep fighting.”
“I do not think Thurman can keep fighting, I think he looked terrible against Lopez,” Arum said. “Let’s be honest, Lopez is not an elite fighter, he never was, and he hurt Thurman in the seventh-round, and it is well know Lopez is not a knockout artist and the referee could have stopped the fight in that round. Yes, I think it’s a fight that he (Pacquiao) can win, it is. I think Freddie saw the same thing as me.”
Arum might be guilty of exaggerating things when he says the ref could have stopped the fight in that seventh-round. Okay, Thurman was buzzed, but if the fight had been stopped then, fans would still be arguing how it should not have been. Can Thurman improve in his next fight back, presumably when he has taken off some more rust? Maybe. But Pacquiao, far faster, far more powerful and a much greater all-round fighter than Lopez, might well be licking his chops at the thought of getting Thurman into the ring in the spring or the summer.
Now very much a 50/50 fight, or even a 60/40 fight, in Pacquiao’s favour, this fight, one that would contest the full WBA welterweight championship (Pac Man of course holds a secondary version of the belt) could prove extremely interesting indeed.