Keith Thurman v Danny Garcia
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Suffering his first career defeat in a split-decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in July, it has now been made clear that Keith Thurman will not fight again until 2020. The former WBA welterweight champion underwent surgery to address long-lingering pain in his left hand and will miss the remainder of 2019.

"The surgery was a bone fusion, so they fused some of my metacarpals," Thurman told Yahoo Sports. "There is not an issue with my fingers or the knuckles that I make a fist with. It feels so much better now. Right after surgery, it was quite painful with a lot of initial swelling. Right now, it feels good and it's not swollen as it was. I'm not on any pain meds or anything."

Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) said he dealt with the pain in his January majority decision win over Josesito Lopez as well as in the loss to Pacquiao. The Pacquiao fight was Thurman's third straight bout that ended in a split or majority decision. Prior to the loss, he had held the WBA title since he captured it in a 2015 win over Robert Guerrero. That win boosted him from interim to undisputed champion.

"It bothered me in camp and disrupted my preparations more than anything, which is another reason I decided to get the surgery now instead of waiting and doing it later," Thurman said. "I can't promise I would be the same Keith Thurman and I couldn't promise a great comeback if I were to keep fighting in the condition I was in."

Despite the injured hand, Thurman gave a thrilling effort against Pacquiao, surviving a knockdown in Round 1 to push back hard down the stretch and lose narrowly on two of the three official scorecards.

"Losing to Pacquiao is evidence you can't be a one-handed champion," Thurman said. "If you really want to be the best in the world, you have to be the best you can be to fight any type of world-class fighter. Even with one hand, I fought a hell of a fight."