Former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman will be making another attempt at returning to the ring after an untimely injury saw a fight with then-WBO super welterweight champion Tim Tszyu cancelled. With Thurman largely regarded as a free agent at this stage, the American former world champion has been confirmed to return to the ring come March 12th against Australian contender Brock Jarvis where the two will compete at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia.
Keith Thurman’s (30-1, 22 KO’s) career is a cautionary tale for any up-and-coming or established fighter given the numerous attempts by Thurman to come back to boxing yet fail to fully entrench himself into the sport. In the modern era, Thurman has defined himself over the past decade not through his accolades but through multiple attempts to come back to the ring while failing to remain in the sport after.
The most notable highlights of Thurman’s career saw him elevated to full WBA welterweight (147 lbs) before a fight against Shawn Porter in 2016 after a stint of three years as the WBA interim champion and later as a WBA “regular” champion. Following a unanimous decision (UD) win over Porter where he officially retained his actual world title for the first time of his career, Thurman’s star appeared to be only rising when he faced another heralded American contender in Danny Garcia (37-4, 16 KO’s) a year later, netting a close split-decision (SD) win to claim Garcia’s WBC 147-pound and title and become a unified champion in the process.
Despite having disposed of two top welterweight opponents in a row, Thurman would become absent following his victory over Garcia in 2017 and return roughly two years to carve out a majority decision (MD) victory over Josesito Lopez. That same year, Thurman lost to a 40-year old Manny Pacquiao by SD, unofficially spelling the end of what had been a blossoming carer.
Following his loss to Pacquiao, Keith Thurman would fight only once over the next couple of years, defeating current WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KO’s) by UD in 2022 before being scheduled to make a comeback in March of 2024 against then-WBO super welterweight (154 lbs) champion Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 KO’s)―though the WBO would refuse to sanction the bout, forcing the two to compete for the vacant WBC title.
The bout was a sore mismatch from the beginning, not only due to Thurman’s bouts of inactivity but further due to his inexperience at 154 lbs, and by the time Thurman suffered an injury that forced him to withdraw; leading to a much more suitable replacement in Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO’s) who would go on to defeat Tszyu to become the current unified super welterweight champion of the division.
Roughly a year later since his attempt to come back on March 30, Keith Thurman will again be attempting to regain his status as a top fighter with an upcoming fight against Australian contender Brock Jarvis (22-1, 20 KO’s), as announced by Australian promotion No Limit―who also represent Tszyu.
With Thurman now aged 36 and having clearly declined due to frequent bouts of inactivity, it is unlikely he will be able to defeat Jarvis at this stage, much less contend. This is further characterized by the fact that he will be competing at a higher weight class than the welterweight division he gained recognition in, marking a rather futile attempt by an aging fighter to regain their status.
The true downside of his upcoming bout, however, is the continued deception perpetrated by promotions such as No Limit who clearly has a fixation to boost the profiles of their fighters by fighting opponents that are no longer considered top contenders, but still have some name recognition to draw in seats. In this sense, No Limit appears to have no qualms in exploiting Thurman, regardless of the American’s own motivations.
This was first noticed during Tszyu’s attempt to face Thurman last year with No Limit’s representatives embellishing Thurman’s ability despite years of inactivity,. Most prominently, the fight against an inactive Thurman styled as a “big fight” according to No Limit and Tszyu, drawing upon Thurman’s past accomplishments rather than his sporadic performances over the past couple of years.
The same sort of marketing tactics are now being applied for Brock Jarvis, a virtual drifter between weight classes who does not boast a significant reputation comparable to the likes of other Australian fighters such as Tim Tszyu or Liam Paro (25-1, 15 KO’s). However, as is usually the case in boxing, a win by Jarvis over Thurman could potentially catapult him into becoming another “Australian star” by virtue of Thurman’s own accomplishments, all whilst blatantly ignoring his declined ability as a fighter.
