Keith Thurman vs. Jessie Vargas is in the works for April 14. The fight is being worked on both their management, and we could see the two square off on Showtime.
Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) will be defending his WBA and WBC welterweight belts. He had elbow surgery this year on his right elbow. Thurman, 28, didn’t want his first fight back to be against a difficult opponent in Shawn Porter, who he beat last year by a 12 round decision. Porter is Thurman’s WBC mandatory challenger.
Vargas (28-2, 10 KOs) is looking to resurrect his career after a loss last year to Manny Pacquiao. Vargas came back this month after a year out of the ring to beat Aaron Herrera by a 10 round unanimous decision on December 15. Vargas is ranked high with the World Boxing Council at No.4.
Thurman has looked shaky in his last 2 fights against Danny Garcia and Porter. Thurman won both by close 12 round decisions, but he looked vulnerable. Garcia came close to beating Thurman by pressuring him hard in the last half of the contest. Had Garcia started earlier, he would have had a great chance of defeating Thurman. The blueprint is out now in how to beat Thurman. You put Thurman under withering fire the way Danny Garcia did, and he’ll back off and go into a defensive mode. Thurman is much less effective when he’s fighting on the back foot.
Thurman should be able to beat Vargas unless the Danny Garcia fight took something out of him. You never know. Thurman has taken a lot of punishment in his last 2 fights against Garcia and Porter. Vargas is well-rested from his 1 year out of the ring. Vargas has a chance to win if he can go after the battle worn Thurman and try and wear him down with power shots.
Thurman says he won’t be fighting a unification match against IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. in 2018. That fight won’t take place until 2019 if Thurman can hold onto his WBA/WBC titles for that long.