By: Sean Crose

He’s tough to follow. While he still possesses a personality that draws attention, former world titlist Keith “One Time” Thurman has had such a stop and go career that it’s hard for fans to remain invested with the colorful Floridian.  With that being said, there’s no denying the 31-1 fighter will have plenty of attention on him this weekend when he faces the reigning WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In truth, most don’t think the 37 year old Thurman can defeat the 23-1-1 titlist at this point in his career – and with good reason.

For starters, the 28 year old Fundora is nearly a decade younger than the venerable Thurman. What’s more, Fundora is nearly six feet, six inches all – that’s six feet six inches. That’s a tough height advantage for any junior middleweight to have to face. Thurman is under five feet, ten inches in height. Lastly, Fundora can fight. If Thurman can get past the man’s jab, he’s going to quickly realize just how good Fundora is at trading leather.  Throw in the fact that Fundora’s last fight was eight months ago and it becomes clear that Thurman will have quite a challenge before him in this weekend’s Pay Per View event.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the fighter known as One Time can’t pull out the surprise win. The truth is that, even as he pushes forty, the man hasn’t received that much damage in the ring, He’s only lost once, and that was to the great Manny Pacquiao back in 2019. There’s also a whole lot of experience at play here.  Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, and Robert Guerrero dot the man’s resume, all in the win column. The biggest name on Fundora’s resume is Tim Tszyu, a good fighter for sure, but…

One thing Thurman has to get credit for at the moment is the fact that he is aware of the changing sport around him. “There’s a big shift,” he says (via Yahoo Sports), “and this has got nothing to do with Donald Trump, but Keith Thurman is here to make American boxing great again, baby. Come on. Let’s make some of the greatest and most exciting fights that we can make happen, back in Las Vegas, and just represent American boxing.” Sure enough, American boxing could be in a better place right now. While the sport is very healthy on a global scale, it’s lost it’s sizzle in the US, mainly due to a lack of star power.

And, while he may be off putting to some, the brash Thurman can certainly bring in the kind of attention American boxing needs more of. Fundora may not like Thurman’s trash talk, but it likely generates clicks. Then again, Fundora shutting Thurman up this weekend in Vegas would generate even more clicks. Fight fans like it when fighters don’t like each other, even if that dislike isn’t fully authentic. Boxers who appear motivated for whatever reason draw attention to themselves.

In the end, however, all the showmanship in the world would likely have no impact on Saturday’s fight. Fundora may find Thurman irritating but he comes across as being too mentally disciplined to allow Thurman to get inside this head. Thurman may be calling out Terence Crawford, but he still appears focused on the task before him this weekend.  “Patience, setups, traps…I’m a firm believer the opportunity’s going to there,” he says facing Fundora (Via Fight Hype). When asked if he believes he needs a knockout to win, the response was classic Thurman. “I don’t have to,” he said. “I just want to.”

As the song goes, though, you can’t always get what you want. Should he have a good night against Fundora on Saturday, Thurman’s name will still be relevant in the fight world. Should he lose, however, he may begin to fade away from the conversation. He’s built quite a career for himself, Thurman has. Saturday, however, is a due or die for the man’s career. He hasn’t been able to fight much in recent years, but if he wants to continue fighting notable opponents at all, he’s got to pull off the win this weekend.

As he pushed towards forty, Thurman finds himself in the position of being a veteran fighter. If he wants to remain in the headlines, then the fight with Fundora can’t be the man’s last stand.