Only a few weeks ago, welterweight Keith Thurman stepped into the ring against a contender who few had heard of, and even fewer had actually seen. Those hardcore fight fans in the game knew that it could be an interesting night, as the scouting report on underdog Diego Gabriel Chaves was that he’s under the radar, but above the rim. Although Chaves entered the night as the relative unknown commodity, to some, Thurman wasn’t exactly popular, himself. Sitting in front of a flat screen TV in a house filled with fight fans ready for some action, I can recall hearing one young lady ask “who’s the light-skinned guy with the long hair”?
A few rounds, several power shots, and a bloody nose later, she made a conscious effort to remember his name, as Thurman gutted his way to an effort she would make a conscious effort to remember. Stepping in the shoes of that young lady for a moment, we ponder the question out loud: “WHO IS KEITH THURMAN”? In the world of Boxing you have pretenders and contenders. In many ways he has shown enough ability to escape the “pretender” tag. But has he truly established himself as a “contender” in one of the sports deeper divisions? What makes the Thurman project such an interesting one is that he appears to have all the tools to do so. 19KO’s in 21 fights is an indelible print left in the minds of both fans and future opponents. Trouble is, practically all of those KO’s came against unproven talents.
In terms of boxing, what can be said of Carl Froch? He’s not just ‘as tough as they come’, he’s tougher. He’s the epitome of resolve. He’s a vicious and hurtful puncher. He’s hugely experienced at the highest levels of boxing. He’s a very serious risk to any fighter in the world at any given moment in a fight, regardless of whether it’s the first round or the twelfth. He’s a world champion boxer. How could one argue over these statements when the world witnesses the aforementioned whenever Carl steps into a ring? It’s fact, Carl Froch is a resilient, hard-hitting world champion. 
As fans will possibly be aware, heavyweight powerhouse David Tua, arguably one of the best fighters never to have captured a major title, will be back in action later this month, when the 40-year-old will tangle with Russian giant Alexander Ustinov.
Byron M. (Tacoma, WA): Please tell me that Mayweather is joking about Pacquiao having to sign with Mayweather Promotions in order to secure a fight with him in the future! What is that about? 
As fans may have read, middleweight ruler (begging the pardon of Sergio Martinez) Gennady Golovkin is shopping around for a November challenger, with a December fight also pencilled in. Currently one of the hottest fighters/champions/out and out punchers in boxing, “GGG” has fans salivating for more pure punching action. 
You’ve got to hand it to former football player Seth Mitchell. The once-beaten 31-year-old had limited amateur experience and “Mayhem,” as the Brandywine slugger is known, has not found the transition from the field to the ring to be a natural one. But whatever shortcomings Mitchell has as a fighter – and his critics maintain they are plenty – the 26-1-1(19) contender makes up for them, or almost makes up for them, with sheer heart.
It’s been thought that WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s) will give up his newly won World Boxing Association 147 lb. title without defending it rather than facing the likes of Marcos Maidana and Keith Thurman. Broner, however, is now saying he wants to fight Maidana and then Lucas Matthysse after that. There’s no word from Broner about whether he’ll bother defending his title against WBA interim welterweight champion Keith Thurman, who has already said he wants to fight Broner next.
HBO is working to finalize a deal to show the October 5th fight between IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (60-3, 51 KO’s) and WBA champion Alexander Povetkin (26-0, 18 KO’s) live in the United States, according to Dan Rafael. If HBO can swing this, it will be a big deal for American boxing fans, because they don’t get to see too many fights of the Klitschkos anymore.