Keith Thurman: Unified Welterweight Champion

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It was one of the most anticipated fights in recent memory. Undefeated WBA Welterweight Champion Keith Thurman vs Undefeated WBC Welterweight Champion Danny Garcia. I, for one, as a fight fan could not wait to see who the best 147-pound fighter in the world would be. Garcia had already unified the 140-pound title earlier in his career and now he was trying to become the first fighter to unify the 140 and 147-pound titles. Thurman came in believing he was already the best welterweight in the world. It was just time to prove it.

The fighters entered the ring and both looked in shape and full of confidence. Garcia came in wearing some kind of mask that looked like something out of Halloween. He probably could’ve used Jason’s help early in the fight.

I scored all the rounds 10-9 in this fight.

Round one saw both fighters come out strong with Thurman being the stronger. Each would throw haymakers with some of those connecting. Thurman was the most aggressive of the two coming out faster than Garcia. He landed a powerful overhand right that shook and sent Garcia backing up. Round: Thurman 10-9

In round two, it was more of the same with Thurman setting the pace. He continued to be effective with the overhand right as well as with the left jab. Garcia appeared to still be shaken from round one and was not as busy with his hands as would have wanted to be. Another round for Garcia and a hole dug a bit deeper by Garcia. Round: Thurman 20-18

Round three saw the Thurman continuing to land power shots and Garcia looking baffled with no answer. Garcia continued to not be aggressive enough and also missed some counter opportunities. Thurman showed his boxing skills and you could see the focus in him as he almost stalked Garcia around the ring. Round: Thurman 30-27

Before round four began, you could feel the tension in the Garcia corner. He had to know that he had dug himself a three round hole against a fighter that looked to have no let-up. So in round four Garcia went to work. He started to land the jab and began connecting on power shots of his own. He showed his defensive skills by slipping many of Thurman’s power shots attempts. For the firs time, it looked like Garcia was not ready to fight. Round: Garcia 37-39

The fifth round saw Garcia go back to throwing fewer punches and fighting defensively instead of offensively. He continued to slow the pace down trying to figure out the active Thurman. Thurman continued to outbox Garcia and land the harder, more effective punches. He was also the busier fighter and I believe that played a huge role by the time the fight was over. Round: Thurman 49-46

In round six, Garcia became very active and moving well around the ring. I was very impressed with his footwork and ability to slip so many of Thurman’s power shots. It was the firs time in the fight that Thurman appeared to take the round off, so to speak. He was still active, but it not enough to win this round. Round: Garcia 56-58

Rounds seven through nine saw Thurman build on his lead. He remained the busier fighter landing the more effective and harder punches. He continued to outbox Garcia and keep him thinking and second guessing himself. Garcia started to look a little lost and could not, or would not string together punches. He would connect on a punch her and there, but would not get some combinations together for some reason. Garcia was letting the fight get away from him as just could not keep up the pace with the busier Thurman. Rounds 7-9 for Thurman gave him an 88-8 lead on my card.

It was now GO TIME. The championship rounds, 10-12, were not here and Garcia had to know he might need a knockout to win this fight. Unless he dominated the rest of the fight, it was Thurman’s to throw away.

Round ten saw Thurman begin to wear down a little. More importantly, he would get over confident and you do not want to do that against a world champ like Garcia. He would absorb the jab while running around the ring like all he had to do was coast the rest of the way. Body shots by Garcia, that were landing trough the fight, were now taking their toll and landing more. It was the best round of the fight for Garcia. Round: Garcia 93-97

In round eleven, it was more of the same, but worse, Thurman decided the fight was over and just circled the ring. Some will accuse him of running, but I cannot agree after what he showed to this point. Yet, the running around and Garcia landing enough punches lost him another round. Round: Garcia 103-106

It was now the twelfth and final round and in my opinion, Garcia would need a knockout to win this one. He would not be able to do that as Thurman ran some more. Then, he ran some more and more. By now, he was convinced he had the fight in the bag and I could not agree with him more. Round: Garcia 113-115

Jimmy Lennon Jr. came into the ring to announce the scorecards of 116-112 for Thurman and two 115-113 for each fighter. In the end, I scored the fight 115-113 for the new (WBA/WBC) Unified Welterweight Champion of the World………….Keith Thurman