Keith Fitzgerald Thurman (born November 23, 1988) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 2016 to 2019 (promoted to Super champion in 2017), and the WBC title from 2017 to 2018. As of July 2022, he is ranked as the world's fifth best active welterweight by BoxRec.
Early life Thurman was born in Clearwater, Florida, to an African-American father and a European-American mother of Polish and Hungarian descent.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Amateur career Thurman's first amateur fight was in 1997. He was trained by the late Benjamin Getty who worked with Sugar Ray Leonard. Getty took Thurman under his belt as a child and helped shape him into the fighter he is today. Thurman is now trained by Dan Birmingham. Thurman finished his amateur career with 101 victories (76 KO's), he won 6 National Championships including the 2004 PAL National Championships cadet (16yo) division. In 2007 he lost twice to world champion Demetrius Andrade at the Olympic Trials and won the silver medal.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl
Professional career Early career On November 9, 2007, an 18-year-old Thurman debuted as a light middleweight against Kensky Rodney at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa, Florida, in a scheduled 4 round fight. Thurman won via first-round KO after a body shot floored Rodney. On August 8, 2008, Thurman defeated undefeated Jamaican Omar Bell (6–0, 4 KOs) via first-round knockout following an uppercut and left hand. Thurman faced off against Francisco Garcia in April 2009. The fight lasted less than 3 minutes after an accidental clash of heads halted the fight and it was announced as a no contest. In November 2009, Thurman was taken the 8 round distance by Brazilian Edvan Dos Santos Barros (10–7–1, 7 KOs). The scorecards read 80–71 79–72 (twice) all in favour of Thurman.
On July 23, 2010, Thurman beat the undefeated Stalinn Lopez (7–0, 3 KOs), the fight was on TeleFutura. Over the course of the next few years, Thurman developed from being a 'puncher' to become a more well rounded 'boxer puncher'. On November 26, 2012, Thurman brutally knocked 36-year-old Carlos Quintana (29–3, 23 KOs) out in the fourth round to win the WBO NABO super welterweight title. Quintana announced his retirement from professional boxing after the loss.
Welterweight
Thurman vs. Zaveck On March 9, 2013, Thurman who had 19 wins in as many fights moved down to welterweight weight and fought on the undercard of Hopkins-Cloud at the Barclays Center in New York City. His opponent was 36-year-old former IBF welterweight champion Jan Zaveck (32–2, 18 KOs). Thurman won via unanimous decision after a one-sided 12 round bout, all three judges scored it 120–108 for Thurman, who in the process also won the WBO Inter-Continental welterweight title. It was the first time Thurman fought in a scheduled 12-round bout and his first time to go beyond the eighth round. After the bout, Thurman admitted it was a tough fight and he had prepared to go the distance, whilst also looking for a knockout, which he couldn't find. Thurman called Zaveck 'a true veteran and great boxing lesson' for him.
WBA interim welterweight champion
Thurman vs. Chaves Despite being the mandatory to the WBO title, on July 27, 2013, Thurman challenged the Interim WBA welterweight champion Diego Gabriel Chaves (22–0, 18 KOs) at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Thurman won the Interim WBA title by knocking out Chaves in the tenth round of a very competitive fight. At the time of the knockout, Thurman led on all three cards: 87–83, 87–83, 86–84 thanks in part to a knockdown in round 9 which was the beginning of the end for Chaves. Thurman had been landing extremely strong body shots the entire fight and finally dropped Chaves with one of the same. The end for Chaves came after another hook to the body and a huge overhand right to the forehead. Thurman was never in trouble but absorbed some strong body work as well from Chaves. They traded close rounds early until Chaves really slowed around the seventh, opening the door for Thurman's left hook.
Thurman vs. Soto Karass On October 12, 2013, it was announced that Thurman would make his first defense of the Interim title on the Broner vs. Maidana WBA world title fight on December 14 against battle tested Jesús Soto Karass (28–8–3, 18 KOs) at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Soto Karass was coming off a stunning knockout victory over former champion Andre Berto and was deemed to be a difficult opponent. After a slow start Thurman took over the fight in the middle rounds as he floored Soto Karass in the fifth round before landing a brutal combination in the ninth round sending Soto Karass to the canvas for a second time in the fight and stopping him. Thurman was ahead on all the cards (79–72, 78–73 & 80–71) and turned another strong performance. Thurman boxed patiently, cautiously and smartly, pacing himself and respecting Soto Karass' hand power despite Soto Karass' lack of hand speed. With many prospects and potential good match-ups at welterweight, Thurman claimed he wasn't afraid to lose and wanted to fight the best. Golden Boy promoter Richard Schaefer said, "The Broner-Maidana winner is a possibility. There are so many great match-ups, but he is certainly right there at the very top of the 147-pound weight class."
Thurman vs. Diaz, Bundu On March 25, 2014, it was confirmed that Thurman would fight veteran Mexican boxer and former IBF lightweight champion Julio Díaz (40–9–1, 29 KOs) at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, on April 26. ESPN announced the fight would take place on Showtime. Thurman defeated Diaz to retain his Interim WBA title. Diaz was forced to take a knee in round 2 following a left hook to his head. Boos were heard around the arena as Diaz failed to come out of his corner for round 4. It was believed that Diaz was hurt badly with a body shot. Diaz praised Thurman after the fight and said, "I've been a two-time world champion. I've never given up in a fight. I'm human. [Thurman] has some power. That's how boxing is." Thurman mentioned then-titleholder Shawn Porter as a potential opponent. Thurman received a $600,000 purse for the fight.
Thurman's trainer, Dan Birmingham confirmed that Thurman would next defend his title on the undercard of Khan vs. Alexander on December 13 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas against 40-year-old undefeated Italian boxer Leonard Bundu (31–0–2, 11 KOs). The fight was originally set to take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Prior to the fight, Thurman vowed to stop Bundu, who was the current European welterweight champion, having held the title since 2012. Thurman was taken the distance for only the third time in professional career, dropping Bundu in the opening round and going on to win a clear decision (120–107, 3 times). Bundu's awkward style saw Thurman on the back foot for majority of the fight, which drew boos from the crowd. At the weigh in before the fight, Thurman called out Floyd Mayweather Jr., however after the fight, he called out Marcos Maidana, who sat at ringside. Thurman stated after the fight that he was happy to have gone the distance and blamed ring rust.
WBA welterweight champion On January 28, 2015, Thurman was elevated to the full WBA welterweight championship.
Thurman vs. Guerrero On January 14, 2015 Al Haymon announced that Thurman would fight 31-year-old former world champion Robert Guerrero (32–2–1, 18 KOs) on March 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The two boxers were supposed to fight one another in 2013, but negotiations fell through. Thurman started the fight off aggressively and dominated early on. During the bout there was some exciting exchanges between Guerrero and Thurman, although Thurman won most of those exchanges and able to outbox Guerrero rather easily for most of the fight. There was an accidental head-butt left Thurman with swelling on the left side of his forehead in round 3, but that did not hamper Thurman's aggressiveness. He knocked Guerrero down in the ninth round before going on to win a (120–107, 118–109 and 118–108) unanimous decision in a rather one-sided bout. In the post-fight, Guerrero praised Thurman saying, "He is one of the best. He came in and stuck to his game plan. I take my hat off to him. I'm not a hater." Thurman received a purse of $1.5 million, whilst Guerrero received $1.225 million. According to CompuBox stats, Thurman connected on 211 of 598 punches (35 percent), and Guerrero landed 104 of 497 (21 percent). The fight peaked at 4.2 million viewers, making it the most watched fight since 1998. The whole card averaged 3.13 million viewers.
Thurman vs. Collazo On May 21, 2015, PBC announced Thurman's next bout would take place at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida, outside his hometown of Clearwater, on July 11, against veteran slugger Luis Collazo (36–6, 19 KOs) on ESPN. Thurman was excited to be in a world title fight in his home state, having last fought there in November 2008. The attendance for the fight 4,136. Collazo badly hurt Thurman with a body shot in the fifth round but the fight ended after the seventh round due to an injury near the eye of Collazo, which blocked his vision. Thurman was declared the winner via TKO. At the time of stoppage, Thurman was ahead 69–64, 68–65, and 69–64 on the scorecards. Thurman commented on fighting Floyd Mayweather after the bout saying, "I'm a young, strong champion, Floyd. Come get it, I'm undefeated like you, baby. Come take my 0 baby! Come take my 0! I'm ready. I'm ready." Collazo received a $500,000 purse compared to Thurman's $1.5 million. Thurman landed 119 of 348 punches (34 percent) while Collazo connected on just 76 of 244 (31 percent). The fight peaked 1.1 million viewers, averaging only 799,000 viewers.
On January 8, 2016 Premier Boxing Champions requested to the WBA, the upcoming fight between Danny García and Robert Guerrero be for the vacant WBA 'Super' title as Floyd Mayweather Jr. had retired. The WBA denied to sanction the fight, citing they would like to have no more than two welterweight titleholders.
Thurman vs. Porter It was announced on February 17, Thurman would defend his title against Shawn Porter (26–1–1, 16 KOs) on March 12, 2016, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. On February 23, Thurman's promoter said he had been forced to postpone his upcoming fight with Porter after being injured in a car accident. Lou Di Bella has insisted the injury is not serious or career threatening, but admits the American was lucky to have escaped major injury. Thurman, following the advice of his doctors, was on the sidelines for approximately six weeks before resuming training. Porter announced that his rescheduled world title clash against Thurman will take place on June 25 at the Barclays Center. The World Boxing Association then ordered the winner of the Thurman and Porter to face interim WBA welterweight champion David Avanesyan (22–1–1, 11 KOs), who beat No. 3 WBA Shane Mosley (49–10–1, 41 KOs) on May 28.