Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2019-01-26, great performance by both boxers: Keith Thurman vs Josesito Lopez is close to get four stars!The undefeated current Wba and former Wbc Ww champion Keith Thurman entered this fight with a perfect boxing record of 28-0-0 (22 KOs=76%) but he is not ranked as he hasn’t fought since March 4, 2017 when he defeated Danny Garcia (via split decision, Keith Thurman vs Danny Garcia); before this bout, in 2016, he had beat Shawn Porter (Thurman vs Porter).
His opponent, Josesito Lopez, has a record of 36-7-0 (19 knockouts) and he entered as the No.42 welterweight in the world. He lost to Andre Berto in 2015 (Andre Berto vs Josesito Lopez) but then he has won over Todd Manuel, Saul Corral and Miguel Cruz (Josesito Lopez vs Miguel Cruz). Thurman vs Lopez is valid for the WBA Super World welterweight title. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Date: 2019-01-26
Where: Barclays Center, New York, USA
Division: welterweight (147 lbs, 66.7 kg)
Title: WBA Super World welterweight title
Thurman’s previous fight: Keith Thurman vs Danny Garcia
Lopez’s previous fight: Josesito Lopez vs Miguel Cruz
Thurman’s next fight: Manny Pacquiao vs Keith Thurman
Lopez’s next fight: Josesito Lopez vs John Molina Jr
Thurman vs Lopez full fight video:
(Free embeddable video hosted on Youtube/Facebook and not uploaded by AllTheBestFights)
Click on the image to play the video (video hosted at this page on Facebook)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSBlMQigS4g
Official video
Official highlights
The champ is back!!! And again battling through adversity like a true champ! Didnt see much ringrust other than he was tired after 6rds, so needs to work on his conditioning. Anyway, thurman beats spence, way too much of a multidimensional boxer for flat footed super overrated errol. If mikey dont pull off the upset first. Crawford is the dark horse in this division though
You must be new to the sport….Hope ur enjoying watching ur first fights. Thurman is far from multi-dimensional. His style is very predictable in fact. The reason he tires is bc of his constant & pointless moving style. It’s a sort of hybrid ambush defense/attacking style. Against lesser opps he fairs ok. But against higher level opps he gets exposed. Spence is flat footed indeed. But the wrong style for Spence. He has the style & size & strength & stamina to walk Keith down & stop him. & Crawford is far from a darkhorse…He’s the multi-dimensional fighter I think u meant to refer to. He has the technique & pwr & intelligence along w/ athleticism to do the same as spence only in a diff way. I personally thought Keith looked good tonight. He’s still dangerous. & still has ability. But IMO Thurman looks best against guys whom he has an athletic or size advantage over. He may do well vs pacquiao. But I can envision him getting caught & hurt. But also landing hard punches on Pac. If he fights Porter again….It’ll be a more diff fight. & the other two he simply loses to. But after 22 months. I thought Thurman did well. He’s far from multi-dimensional though bruh. He practically looks the same in every bout.
Thurman is undefeated due to superior ring IQ. His physical gifts aren’t dominant; eg, the KOs dried up when he moved up in class. He gets hurt now in nearly every fight, typically by body shots (which made Lopez catching him to the head especially noteworthy). As you say, Mr. October, his style isn’t special. He uses constant movement as defense, lunging attacks when he finds the opening. Yet he wins because he knows how to use his limited arsenal. This is what kept him out of the path of Danny Garcia’s bombs, and kept him just a bit ahead of Sean Porter’s whirlwind attacks.
Don’t get me wrong, I like watching Keith. The current rust is serious, as even a tune up opponent (who was once flattened by Jesse Vargas) has just showed. Over the horizon, meanwhile, waits the cream of the division and what are arguably its heirs apparent. I hope we finally get to see those fights, whatever happens in them, because I think this must be said about Thurman too: he fights his a*s off.
I agree. You know it’s interesting…I try to read everything when I watch these warriors. As I listen to Thurman’s last round of interviews I get the feeling that he’s tired. Almost as if he’s hoping to land some big fights & call it a day soon. I get the same feel from Amir Khan. The fire which shone thru so readily on their way up is just about extinguished. Thurman speaks well & has a flair for analysis. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took the Andre Ward path…got out early & moved on to less dangerous endeavors. He’ll fight the smaller Welters like Porter & Pacquiao & Danny. Perhaps he tries his hand at one of the other two top dogs & then bows out, saying he was a legitimate champ…regained his title..thank you good night. Being an athlete is a very demanding lifestyle…particularly when so much depends on your success and dedication. Guys just wear down. & I’m sure he did not expect Josesito to be such a live dogg the entire fight. But I agree w/ u about Thurman & his intelligence. He’ll always be vulnerable to the body….That’s a death-wish vs Spence & Crawford…But particularly Spence who presses on the back end of fights & is relentless to the body. All the extra movement just erases his legs & pwr. Keith def has value. It’s going to be interesting watching the div shake out. I don’t believe Hayman will allow Crawford to unify the div or take the majority of the ww titles away from his stable. That might lead to a stall out between Crawford and Spence.
Enjoyed reading your analysis, Mr O!
Yes, I could see Thurman taking the path you describe. And I wouldn’t mind. However much I’ve liked his ring craft, the tiredness in him and the deterioration to his health are warning signs. Putting him in the path of a prime Spence seems less and less like a good idea, though maybe he’ll surprise us. If I were him, I’d be too busy enjoying that new pretty wife to slog on in the ring, lol!
Round seven’s a good candidate for round of the year.