Still undefeated, Keith Thurman needed to brace himself up to survive a crucial R
It was a scary Round 7 for Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) who was doing well in the first six rounds; outboxing, outmaneuvering, tagging Lopez with hard counters, and he eventually won those rounds.
Thurman has been out of the ring for the entire 2018. 22 months out of the ring to be exact. This is due to an injury he suffered from his last fight. His last fight was in March 2017. A split decision victory over Danny Garcia.
Although, you will not be able to notice significant ring rust on Thurman's performance as he looks sharp and precise. However, I noticed a defensive flaw. Thurman chose to use his legs and tried to fire back while he got hurt. The best possible defense is to slow the pace of the fight, hold and regain footing.
Lopez, (36-8, 19 KOs) to his credit, fought well and did what is expected of him. I expected that he would be outmaneuvered, out-boxed, and outfoxed by a technically superior opponent. But I also expect that at any point in time, he will land a solid shot that would hurt Thurman. Lopez landed the supposed to be game-changing shot, but he was short to capitalize it. He was not able to close it. Thurman was able to survive the round and pull off the decision victory.
After the successful return from a long layoff, Thurman showed interest in fighting Manny Pacquiao next. Pacquiao recently won a unanimous decision over Adrien Broner.
"I would most likely definitely take the Manny Pacquiao fight this year," Thurman said. "I feel good. That was a beautiful fight. I'm ready to fight wherever Pacquiao wants it," says Thurman.
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