Keith Thurman ready to prove why he's one of the best in the world vs. Shawn Porter
The 147-pound champ is still not satisfied
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7 min read
Keith Thurman is a world-class fighter.
He's unbeaten in nearly nine years as a pro, has stopped 22 of the 26 opponents he's faced and has been a full-fledged welterweight champion since the swan song of Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September.
But many believe he's still got a bit to prove, and a legitimate chance to convince those skeptics comes Saturday night in Brooklyn, where he'll meet ex-title-holder Shawn Porter in a long-awaited matchup of the 147-pound division's young guns.
It's the first primetime boxing show on CBS since Leon Spinks beat Muhammad Ali in 1978 -- more than nine years before either Porter or Thurman were born.
Thurman took some time to chat with CBS Sports about the fight, the mental gymnastics he'll endure before the opening bell and how he thinks it'll look when things finally get going at the Barclays Center.
Lyle Fitzsimmons, CBS Sports: TV coverage aside, does this feel any different to you than a typical fight?
Keith Thurman: At the end of the day it doesn't feel different. We're two men with two arms, two legs, two hemispheres of our brains. We both have our own team. We come from our own boxing background and we're mentally preparing for this fight. The difference is the advertising. The difference is the network. It's intriguing, if anything, how CBS is promoting the show. You can tell that there's a lot of enthusiasm behind it that the network is excited to have boxing back on their station and they're happy to be showcasing champions and ex-world champions. This is a great thing.
CBS Sports: Does that make you, as a fighter, any more motivated, anxious, excited?
Thurman: I don't let the networks excite me. To me, they're just a camera. They're just somebody on the outside trying to look in. At the end of the day, for me they're the spectator. When in reality, the network is how you get spectators besides the crowd that's going to be there Saturday night. But I block all that out. There's already enough weight on a fighter's shoulder to go out, perform and win for himself, let alone win for others and to perform for a network.
CBS Sports: Is there pressure to make a mark or leave an impression people will talk about the next day?
Thurman: You know what's there, but when is it not there in the sport of boxing? They're going to talk about the most exciting event on the card. Boxing has history. This sport has been around for a long time. It's been on TV for a long time. It has history. None of this is anything new.
CBS Sports: What kinds of things go through your mind at this point, what are the last days before a fight like?
Thurman: The last couple days is just maintaining weight, shaving off a few pounds if need be and just mental. At this point we're visualizing rounds like a play by play. I see the devastating punches that I want to land to the head, the devastating punches that I want to land to the body and just start visualizing the alleyway. If his hands are up like this, we're going to go around from this angle. I'm going to duck come up with an uppercut, dig right to the solar plexus, and we just visualize it. We visualize squeezing the gloves. It's like an Olympian sprinter who knows the time that he wants to get before he gets it and he just see himself doing it. That's all that it is from here on out.
CBS Sports: Some guys are nervous and amped up and they go through a cycle of emotions. What are you like in the last 24 hours?
Thurman: I start to visualize myself getting into dangerous situations, where I'm in the corner and there's an onslaught of punches. I have to rotate, keep my hands up, block and try to imagine what the impact of (his) power is going to feel like and just mentally prepare to endure a brawl or a rough fight if need be. There is a little bit of ups and downs, there's a little bit of anxiousness. I can't wait to get this over with, let's go. I always tell myself that it's gonna feel good as soon as I start hitting him. As soon as my punches start landing, I'm gonna feel a whole lot better. Until then it's just anticipating. I have to wait. I do interviews. I have to talk about it. We have to express ourselves, how we feel about the fight without there being a fight. I've had great training camp and I'm ready to fight.
CBS Sports: It feels like it's wide open to whoever wants to establish themselves as the new king of the welterweights. How important this fight is for you to do that?
Thurman: This is a very interesting time in boxing you can clearly see. All you have to do is go to ringmagazine.com, look at the welterweight division and you'll see nothing but a list of a whole bunch of young fighters at the top, so it's very exciting, I'm happy, I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for many years now. The welterweight division has been flooded with talent for years and years and years. So now I have an opportunity, being one of the welterweights at the top, this fight's against Shawn Porter, in my opinion, with this performance I can separate myself from the other welterweights. Ring magazine has Kell Brook as No. 1 and everybody knows that the toughest fighter Kell Brook ever beat was Shawn Porter, so after this fight with Shawn Porter, if I am able to do it in a greater fashion than Kell Brook, I believe I will be making a big statement in the welterweight division.
CBS Sports: For you, it's not just "Beat Shawn Porter", it's jump the bar that Kell put out there a couple of years ago?
Thurman: Well, for me personally, whenever I fight an opponent that I personally know has never been stopped in his professional career that always seems like a challenge to me because we know that I am a puncher and I enjoy getting the KO and I enjoy stopping people and my nickname is One Time for a reason. So I am looking forward to putting on a great performance. I'm eager to be stepping back in the ring. It's been a while and I love boxing, so this fight is a great fight for me, for Shawn Porter, for the fans, for the welterweight division. There's just nothing to complain about.
CBS Sports: I'm sure you've seen Shawn fight plenty of times and you know what he is all about. What do you see that makes you think, 'OK, this is a guy that I can beat and look spectacular doing so?
Thurman: I think (Kell Brook) was more accurate and what I've learned is that Shawn can tend to throw volume punches and not focus on accuracy. He tends to charge in not focusing on the distance and then sometimes smothers himself, which makes his punches less effective. The one thing Kell Brook was able to do was make his punches throughout the rounds more effective. Adrien Broner was able to land pot shots, single left hooks at a time and straight right hands at a time but he was not following up with combinations of any sort. I believe that Shawn is very skilled, we both have tons of fights in the amateurs, been in many national tournaments, competed at the U.S. Olympic trials but the one thing Shawn Porter doesn't have, in my opinion, is the accuracy. And I am going to use my defense in the way that Kell Brook used his defense to negate Shawn Porter's offense. I'm going to use my accuracy mixed in with my speed and my power and hopefully deal damage. If we see damage dealt, then we will not hesitate to make sure that the show ends early.
CBS Sports: If things go well and they say, 'OK, Keith, you've defended your title and you beat him more impressively than Kell did,' are you you're where you need to be?
Thurman: I do not think one fight can replace a legend overnight. Floyd Mayweather did not get the recognition he got in one fight. He got it from being at the top for over a decade. So, Keith Thurman is at the top and winning this fight will only prove that I belong at the top but for me, my job is not done until I've stayed at the top for the remainder of my career.
