Keith Thurman (31-3, 23 KO’s) has baffled the boxing world with an unexpected technical knockout (TKO) victory over Australian contender Brock Jarvis (22-2, 20 KO’s) during their March 12th match, held at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia. The two headlined a No Limit Promotions card as they fought at super welterweight (154 lbs). No titles were made available for their fight.
Thurman, 36, notably had been out of the ring since 2022 — making it three years since his last professional bout which saw him net a unanimous decision (UD) win over current WBC welterweight (147 lbs) champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KO’s).
Despite Thurman’s pedigree as a former world champion, multiple factors should have culminated in Jarvis claiming a victory over a well-known name; particularly Thurman’s inactivity which was apparent during the bout but could not be capitalized on by Jarvis.
Scheduled for 10 rounds, the 1st round was typically slow but notably saw Thurman land a crunching right hand despite clearly still dealing with some ring rust. Jarvis arguably disappointed, with his jab proving to be both ineffective and inaccurate for the most part but managed to muster an offensive at around the half mark of the fight — as expected of Jarvis being he was the bigger and younger man. However, Thurman appeared unruffled as the Australian came into the pocket and launched vicious combinations to which Thurman had little reply but to cover up.
However, Jarvis lost steam following his attempt and Thurman seemed mostly unruffled, even pushing back Jarvis and landing a solid uppercut during the final minute of the round.
Though mostly evenly-sided, Jarvis’ inability to use his power to push Keith Thurman into a corner marked success for Thurman in the round, especially consider the efficiency of Thurman’s counters.
Despite the age gap between the two fighters, with Thurman being roughly nine-years Jarvis’ senior, Thurman appeared to be the fresher fighter in the 2nd round. The round saw Keith Thurman gain more confidence with his jabs, proving to be the main obstacle for Jarvis, while the American’s implementation of body shots also began taking root. Jarvis struggled with his jab during the round while further leaving himself open often following his attacks, and further drew questions on his conditioning due to the relatively low inactivity compared to the older fighter.
The 3rd round saw more of the same, with Thurman’s jabs and body shots becoming increasingly more disruptive to Jarvis though the Australian showed determination by committing more to the attack. However, despite Jarvis’ intent, Thurman’s skill was on display as his counters often stifled Jarvis’ attacks and his defense was too solid for the Australian to make a sizeable impact.
Following the half portion of the round, Thurman arguably began dominating the round as his body shots became more vicious and were clearly starting to have an impact. Around the end of the 2nd minute, Thurman struck gold with a right hand that sent Jarvis on the retreat and after a couple of accurate but stinging combinations that ended with an uppercut, Jarvis was dropped for the first time of his career.
Brock Jarvis managed to beat the countdown by the referee following his knockdown, but another three-piece combo by Keith Thurman cut the bout short as Jarvis was knocked down again. This time, the referee intervened to wave the off, culminating in Thurman winning the match in the 3rd round by technical knockout (TKO).
It was a decent performance from Keith Thurman despite some lapses in his own game — clearly the result of ring rust through inactivity, and while the American netted his first stoppage win since 2015, it was Jarvis’ own performance which heavily contributed to the loss.
For Australian boxing, the Thurman-Jarvis fight now puts the country’s sport in jeopardy given Jarvis has become the 2nd Australian fighter in the span of a year to lose to a significantly older fighter following Michael Zerafa’s 2024 loss to the then 40-year old Erislandy Lara.
Thurman accompanied his victory speech with a callout towards former WBO 154 lbs champion Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 KO’s), who was present at ringside as an announcer. Following Thurman’s victory, a potential continuation of their bout — that was cancelled last year — appears to be on the cards, but is dependent on whether Tszyu comes out on top in his own slated bout which will commence on April 6th.
Undercard Fights:
Michael Zerafa (33-5, 21 KO’s) continued his KO streak in the wake of his last match [August 28, 2024] against countryman Tommy Browne (45-9-2, 19 KO’s) and did well to record a TKO win over German contender Besir Ay (19-2, 9 KO’s) — stopping his opponent in the 7th round of their middleweight (160 lbs) match that was scheduled for 10. Zerafa won the vacant WBO International 160-pound title as a result of his victory.
