Before last night’s big welterweight unification fight between Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, a lot of people said the winner would emerge as THE best welterweight in the world today. For two or three rounds last night, the opening three, Thurman looked just that: the best 147-pounder out there today. Thurman looked like a beast with his effective attacks, launched on the naturally smaller Garcia.
But then, in the second half of the fight, Thurman faded, he appeared to be coasting as he sat on his lead and he looked less than great. So, is Thurman, who won via split decision and now holds both the WBA and WBC titles, the best in the world at the weight? Some fans will argue that he is, while others will say no, Thurman would lose to guys like Kell Brook, or Errol Spence Jr. or Manny Pacquiao.
Thurman, though, says he will simply keep on winning, in the process giving the fans the big fights they want to see. Thurman, in speaking with Yahoo! Sports, said he wants to be “The people’s champ.”
“I want to be the guy who gives fans what they want,” Thurman said.
A rematch with Garcia is a possibility, but last night’s fight was not great; certainly nothing like the thrilling battle Thurman, 28-0(22) engaged in with Shawn Porter in his last fight last June. So who should Thurman fight next so as to give the fans what they want? The winner of the Brook-Spence fights instantly jumps out as a fascinating match-up, but can this fight be made? Pacquiao is in talks with Amir Khan (who, interestingly, told Fight Hype that he aims to beat Pac-Man, take his WBO welterweight belt and then go after a fight with Thurman!) but that fight too would be a great match-up.
Or maybe Thurman will look to get it on with Porter again, should Porter beat Andre Berto in April. Either way, there are some big, big fights for Thurman. He might not be universally recognised as the absolute best welterweight in the world quite yet, but Thurman remains the man to beat.