Keith Thurman: Patience Is Everything

This upcoming weekend WBA welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (25-0, 21 KO’s) will be returning to the ring for the second time in five months as he takes on Luis Collazo (36-6, 19 KO’s) in his hometown of Tampa Bay, FL. The fight will be televised on ESPN as part of the PBC series.

For Keith Thurman, the road to stardom is a tougher one than most despite being in a weight class of big names. Thurman is considered by many as a knockout artist that brings excitement every time he steps into the ring, however, he has yet to break into that stardom limelight. He’s been having a hard time getting the big names to step into the ring with him. Patience is a virtue, and Thurman is trusting that advisor Al Haymon is going to get him where he needs to be.

“It's a business and it takes time. I've been on the scene for three years now and just earlier this year I got my first fighter in the top ten and to a degree it's a struggle man but it's a grind and I look forward to the grind.” Thurman stated.

Thurman is considered the most dangerous fighter in the welterweight division tallying up a knockout percentage of %81 in 25 professional fights. Robert Guerrero was willing to step up to the plate in March and Thurman hopes that more fighters will follow his path. For now Thurman is just trusting the plan and he knows that his knockouts are helping him land the PBC Main Events. This will be the second time that Thurman will headline a PBC card in five months which means millions of viewers with their eyes on him again.

“I'm somewhat of a go to guy. I'm reliable you can trust me. I show up I make weight. I stay true to the contract. There hasn't been a lot of controversy with me and my career. Our team is dedicated and I just believe that Al sees that and he's taking advantage of my hunger and just trying to grow me as a fighter.”

Thurman plans to fight four times a year under the PBC. With fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, Amir Khan, Timothy Bradley, Marcos Maidana, and many more stacking up the welterweight division the options for Keith Thurman seem to be endless.

Knockouts sell in boxing. It’s not a matter of opinion but a fact. Thurman brings that every time he steps into the ring. With explosiveness in his punches, and knockout power behind each time he throws, the road to stardom shouldn't be hard. Besides his in the ring excitement, outside of the ring Thurman is fun, witty, and enjoys much of what boxing has brought him. Last week he spent some time at Shriner’s Hospital of Children in his hometown of Tampa Bay sharing his story with the children there. With a personality that includes amusing 4th of July video’s and him playing the flute on Twitter, Thurman has the makings of everything it takes to help be the face of boxing once Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have retire. He also had some choice words for Floyd Mayweather, who claimed that Thurman wasn't ready for him.

“He fought Victor Ortiz was he ready? He fought Robert Guerrero was he ready? C’mon.” Thurman told the Boxingvoice.

For now, he claims his focus is on Luis Collazo on July 11th.Thurman understand that a trap fight can ruin everything. While he itches for the bigger names in his division like Floyd Mayweather he understands how the sport of boxing works and will not look past any fight.

“At the end of the day, my job is to win. Everything else is icing on the cake. We want to be great. We want this match to be talked about for months to come later on in the year. We stayed focused to the formulas. It's another fight, it's another opportunity for me to showcase my skills and my talents to the world and I don't believe that I've disappointed anybody yet. July 11 shouldn't be any different.”