The popular call, mainly among boxing experts, says there’s nothing Keith Thurman can do that Manny Pacquiao hasn’t seen.
Pacquiao, 40, and Thurman, 30, clash in a WBA welterweight defining championship in Las Vegas on July 20.
Thurman, 29-0, 22 KOs, did drop a bruise bomb and said he would make Manny Pacquiao disappear, but the face-off between the two world welterweight boxing standouts did not escalate into a full-scale word war.
Pacquiao took scathing verbal shots calmly, but Thurman dug hard and next cried he was going to CRUCIFY Pacquiao in the championship fight.
Said Alan Dawson of Business Insider: “Crucified becomes problematic when it is used against a practicing Christian like Pacquiao. Some of those who attended the conference even jeered.”
Dawson said Thurman told him he has been patiently waiting his whole life to be one of the main faces in boxing by figuring in a life-changing event; and claimed “the time is now.”
Business Insider proceeded to detail some of Thurman’s weighty claims. Here they are:
This is a dangerous fight for Manny Pacquiao and he will experience it on July 20. Props to him and his beautiful legacy, but he will fall short. I always look forward to dismantling my opponents, destroying them and showcasing my skills and talent each and every time I am in the ring. I want to give Manny a proper farewell from the sport of boxing.
I am going to do to Manny Pacquiao what Manny Pacquiao did to Oscar De La Hoya. Manny Pacquiao was Oscar De La Hoya’s last fight and Keith Thurman may be Pacquiao’s last fight come July 20.
Pacquiao is a true warrior. He’s willing to step with myself inside the ring and give the fans a good fight. I’m really honored … but I do plan on separating myself from him with my skills and talent, and showcasing why I am the WBA [super] welterweight champion of the world.
I am confident inside the ring. I know how to protect myself, I know how to move and I throw devastating punches.
Every single one of my opponents has always felt my power. I am confident with my power. I know that, as soon as I do it to them, they know that they’re not fighting against the likes of some other opponents they’ve fought in the past … Keith Thurman is a dangerous man.
Pacquiao, who has won world crowns in eight separate divisions, counts Thurman as his 71st opponent. Pacquiao has never been a noisy warrior. The sharpest he has said thus far against Thurman was that he would slip out of boxing on his own terms. Nobody in the world pushes him out.
Pacquiao said Thurman is indeed different, something similar to Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, whom the revered fighting Filipino senator had both stopped.
Pacquiao quietly promised to keep the power, speed and dedication to the sport.