Thurman vs Garcia Post Fight Obervations

Good fight. Keith Thurman beat Danny Garcia to unify the WBC/WBA Welterweight titles and made the Philadelphian look limited, hesitant, and average. Thurman is a good fighter but just not on that level of Pacquiao, Leonard, Hearns, Duran. Tv analyst Sugar Ray Leonard said one sentence that captured the essence of the fight: “These guys need to throw punches in bunches.” Neither was able to satisfy Leonard’s simple request. But a good fight it was. I’ve known about Thurman in Florida since he was 14 which is 14 years now and he still fights the same way. Big puncher but not much technical. Ripe to be outboxed. But Thurman has an enormous will and burning desire which makes up for style limitations.  My good friend (Michael Onello) trained a kid (Kenny Blair of Sarasota) who sparred with Thurman fourteen years ago evenly and he told me Keith will be world champ despite his limited brawling style. Thurman has that special “X factor.” Wish the kid we had sparring Thurman stuck with it because he was better than Keith. Blair could punch and box and despite far less experience he was just about even with Keith. One more year of experience and he would have dominated Keith. But that’s boxing. Great talents don’t always stick with it. But big credit to Keith who has that self-belief and passion for the sport and also an extraordinary dedication.  – Scoop Malinowski