Home Boxing News Keith Thurman backs Errol Spence Jr to get the job done against...

Keith Thurman backs Errol Spence Jr to get the job done against Manny Pacquiao behind the jab

Manny Pacquiao vs Keith Thurman. Photo credit: AP Photo/John Locher

Manny Pacquiao’s last victim Keith Thurman isn’t writing off the Filipino superstar, but he believes Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr will have the edge over him in their all-southpaw matchup next month.

The 42-year-old Pacquiao 62-7-2 (39) will challenge the 31-year-old Spence 27-0 (21) from Texas for his WBC and IBF welterweight titles at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 21.

“He wiggled away that victory over me by one point,” said Thurman 29-1 (22) to ESNews about his split decision loss to Pacquiao two years ago. “Errol prides himself on outperforming me and all he has to do is one more time.

“I believe he has all the tools that it takes to beat a Manny Pacquiao. Also, I think styles make fights.

“How is Pacquiao going to perform when his awkward movement against right-handed fighters is not going to be the same against a southpaw?

“It’s going to be more like an orthodox fighting another orthodox. Now, we haven’t seen Manny or Errol fight a ton of skillful southpaws throughout their careers.

“So we don’t know who this favors when it comes to southpaw vs southpaw. The last time I saw Errol, it might have been against Lamont Peterson.

“From my memory, a very talented southpaw. Errol walked him down and used his jab all day and was pretty much able to win with the one and the two.

“I think he [Spence] can try and take that fundamental approach, but with Manny moving, he might make it a little difficult to stick that jab out all day.

“But he’s [Spence] the bigger man and can press Manny back. We know when he gets you to the ropes, he likes to go to the body.

“I think there are one or two things that do favor Errol Spence. But like I said, if there’s anybody that is going to surprise us and job in with that speed and that power and catch you off guard, that’s Manny Pacquiao.”

Thurman recovered from a first-round knockdown against Pacquiao in their clash in Las Vegas in July 2019 to work his way back into the fight, only to lose the fight by 115-112 on two of the judges’ scorecard. The third judge had Thurman ahead 114-113.

He sees a fight against the winner of Spence vs Pacquiao as a natural. 

“Most definitely,” Thurman said “This fight didn’t happen because Keith Thurman won. This fight happened because Keith Thurman took an L. I fell short; I dropped the ball, I fumbled.

“Only winners make it to the Super Bowl and that’s what we see right now. We see a big fight, a mega-fight.

“It could be me in there going into next month, but it’ll not be me because of what happened in the Summer of 2019.

“So I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring, showing people that I have not skipped a beat and I’m going to be right back at the top of the division and hopefully taking on the winner of this fight early next year.”