Former world welterweight champion Keith Thurman has admitted he needed another fight before taking on the challenge of facing Manny Pacquiao.
‘One Time’ lost his world title and undefeated record to the Filipino master in Las Vegas, hitting the canvas in the very first session.
Pacquiao went on to score a points win. Thurman says the 2016/17 version of him would have retained the WBA belt.
Pacquiao vs Thurman 2
“My opponents respect me in the ring. They always find some way to do something defensively to try to eliminate my offense,” Thurman told Sirius XM Fight Nation.
“For Manny Pacquiao and Freddie (Roach), whatever they were doing they had a nice gameplan. He was very calm and poised, you know. And just getting that knockdown in the first round, that would have given him a tremendous amount of confidence for the rest of the fight.
“Round one just shook up the whole fight.”
Reminded that he did land some good punches himself by host Randy Gordon, Thurman replied: “I should have thrown a few more and stayed right on top of him. You know, killer instinct mode.”
LAYOFF
On his physical state, Thurman added: “This year, I came back in January after 22 months away, so, all in all, I made a statement.
“The Keith Thurman that beat Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter back-to-back would have beat Manny Pacquiao. But with my long layoffs, I don’t believe I am where I once was.
“I’m still just a tad/step behind. Maybe one more tune-up fight. Something to get my gears going a little more? – It is was it is, man.
“Like I said at the end of the fight, ‘It was a blessing and a lesson to be in the ring. It was a tremendous fight. One of my favorite fights of my whole career.
“It was a tremendous night. An electric night. I’d love to do it again (Pacquiao rematch). Or I’d love to do something of that caliber with any other world champion out there,” he concluded.
Thurman may have to get to the back of the line, with every welterweight worth their salt currently calling out the Senator.
Errol Spence. Terence Crawford, Shawn Porter and Amir Khan all want a piece of the ‘Pacman’. One man who doesn’t seem to be interested is Floyd Mayweather.
The ‘Money’ man is aiming for an exhibition with his career rival, rather than a full-blown PPV fight.
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