Keith Thurman returns after a three-year layoff to fight junior middleweight Brock Jarvis on March 12 at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia.
Fans believe Thurman’s rationale for leaving the couch after another one of his extended breaks is that he it stinks Saudi money and he wants to get in on the action while he still can.
Thurman unreliable
The 36-year-old “One Time” Thurman is still relatively young in boxing terms, but he is so unreliable because of his frail body. Even if he does get to the ring, when is the next time you’re going to see him? 3 years? Unlike other fighters, Thurman doesn’t live life.
Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) has to win this fight against the 27-year-old Jarvis (22-1, 20 KOs) to have the opportunity to be discovered by Turki Al-Sheikh to fight on one of his cards. Although Thurman looked good in his last fight, coming off a 2 1/2-year layoff to beat Mario Barrios in 2022, he may not have similar results this time around. He is no longer 33 years old.
“He (Thurman) hasn’t fought since 2022. I’m not sure how long that is. Keith has been a part-time boxer for the last six years (correction: eight). One fight a year. No fight a year. I don’t know what he wants to get back. I don’t know what he left,” Ade Oladipo said DAZN Boxing about Keith Thurman made a comeback after three years out of the ring to face Brock Jarvis on March 12 in Sydney, Australia.
“It’s a name, it’s a presence. It could fight some arrivals. Keith probably looks at the 147 division and thinks: ‘It’s pretty thin.’ I can go in there and suddenly make some money at the Riyadh Season and do some damage
“I kind of lost interest in the Keith Thurman thing a few years ago when he stopped fighting, and I wanted him to fight. I was desperate for him to fight and I just didn’t want to fight. My interest in Keith Thurman has been missing for three or four years.
Everyone lost interest in Thurman several years ago when he stopped being a full-time boxer after his close 12-round split decision win over Danny Garcia on March 4, 2017. Thurman was injured in that fight, suffering an elbow injury. He sat out of the ring for a year and a half after that, licking his wounds and doing nothing.
Thurman’s last 3 fights
Mario Barrios: February 5, 2022
Manny Pacquiao: July 20, 2019
Josesito Lopez: January 26, 2019
Eyes on Saudi money?
“If you’re Keith Thurman and you haven’t fought in a few years, you’re probably thinking, ‘You know what?’ Let’s just do a camp and see how I feel. Let’s go.’ So if I’m Keith, I can see why he’s doing it, but I just don’t know if there’s more to it,” Ade said.
“Again, when you don’t fight for a couple of years, is it still there? I don’t know. I hope it’s because it’s exciting. He talks a lot, but we’ll see if it’s there. I don’t know if Brock Jarvis will try that there is, but we’ll see. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but we’ll see,” Ade said.
Thurman obviously hopes that Turki Al-Sheikh will notice him and want to pay him millions to fight on some of his Riyadh Season cards. At 36, Thurman is young compared to some of the fighters on Turki’s cards. He is younger than Deontay Wilder and Terence Crawford.
“One Time” Thurman is so unreliable, however, due to his injury problems, and it would be a waste of time for him to be used by Turki on his cards. If Keith can’t make it through training camp without suffering an injury, there’s no point in using him. I would be very surprised if Thurman makes his fight against Brock Jarvis on March 12 without suffering an injury that leaves the fight postponed or canceled.
