Former WBA and WBC welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman 30-1 (22) has voiced his disappointment that his upcoming bout against WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu 24-0 (17) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 30 will not be for the world title.
The 35-year-old Thurman from Clearwater, Florida has not boxed for two years. In fact, the Tszyu fight will be just his fourth bout in the past seven years after injuries and the Covid-19 pandemic conspired to keep him on the sidelines for long periods of his career.
As a result of his inactivity, none of the four major sanctioning bodies rate him at welterweight, let alone 154-pounds. Still, Thurman sees his 12-round, 155-pound non-title bout against undefeated Australian Tszyu, 29, as a major opportunity to remind the boxing world that he is still a force to be reckoned with.
“Would it have been nice? We get this W and we don’t receive the proper accolades as a three-time world champion, two-time division champion,” Thurman said to Thaboxingvoice.
“Real boxing people will know on March 30th, Keith Thurman defeated the undefeated champion. It still goes down in history. It’s good enough. I’ve had belts. It’ll be nice to be champion again. It’ll be nice to be champion in a new division [154], but that’s what this fight is all about.”
Thurman’s last fight was a unanimous decision win over Mario Barrios in Las Vegas in February 2022.
In that same time Tszyu has boxed four times, claiming the scalps of US Olympian Terrell Gausha, former world champion Tony Harrison, Mexican champion Carlos Ocampo and top 10 ranked contender Brian Mendoza.
All the momentum appears to be with Tszyu in this bout, with many fans and pundits questioning whether Thurman has what it takes to compete at junior middleweight.
Thurman hears the criticism, but he doesn’t take it to heart.
“Does Keith Thurman belong at 154? Can he actually establish himself at a world-class level at 154? What’s better than to jump right into the fire against Tim Tszyu? Tim Tszyu wants everyone at 154, he wants all the big fights,” Thurman said.
“He’s saying, ‘after Thurman, I want all these big fights’. The winner of Thurman-Tszyu will have the right to claim any world title match at 154. Eventually, when you have a name, it’s not about a belt anymore. It’s about a name and about status.
“This fight is still a big status fight. It excites me, which allows me to get up and do what I need to do.”
As for Tszyu, the eldest son of International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Kostya Tszyu sees his Las Vegas debut as just another box to tick on his way to world domination.
“I’ve been ready and waiting to headline a historic event like this in the US for a very long time and it’s an honour that I don’t take lightly,” Tszyu said at the press confernece to announce the fight.
“My father did it and was at the top of the world for a decade, now it’s my turn.
“Thurman is a great fight, he’s tricky, tough and he’s mixed it with the very best the sport has seen. This is a new era now. It’s the Tszyu era. On March 30, everyone who tunes into this pay-per-view is going to see for themselves.”
