By: Hans Themistode
Keith Thurman is still licking his wounds from his last ring appearance. The former unified welterweight champion hasn’t been seen in the ring since picking up the first loss of his career two years ago against Manny Pacquiao.
While Thurman continues to bide his time on the sidelines, Pacquiao is currently in the midst of training camp as he prepares for his return to the ring. The former eight-division world champion will face arguably the biggest test of his career when he takes on current unified 147-pound titlist, Errol Spence Jr. The two are slated to swap fists on August 21st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Seemingly every few days, Pacquiao drops a new training video as he prepares to deal with his much younger opponent. While the Filipino native has stated that he feels refreshed and rejuvenated, Thurman believes that by the looks of Pacquiao’s training videos, his age is starting to show.
“I saw some mitt work from Pac Man, he looks a little slower this camp,” said Thurman during a self-recorded video. “I ain’t gonna lie, we all know he a little older, he looks a little slower.”
At the age of 42, Pacquiao has admitted that he isn’t able to push himself in training camp on a daily basis like in his younger years. Still, despite that, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer is confident in his ability to take down Spence Jr.
As for the unified champion from Dallas Texas, he’s ostensibly in the prime of his career. After surviving a horrific car wreck in October of 2019, he brushed aside a life-threatening crash and got right back to work. In December of 2020, Spence Jr. successfully returned to the ring and dissected former two-division titlist, Danny Garcia over the course of 12 rounds.
Thurman, 32, sat from his ringside seat as he watched Spence Jr. do whatever he wanted to Garcia, a man he also defeated by split decision in 2017. While Spence Jr.’s performance was nearly flawless, Thurman has openly criticized Garcia for failing to let his hands go and land something of consequence on the chops of Spence Jr.
Although he isn’t exactly a fan of the unified star, Thurman does expect him to pick up the win next month in Las Vegas. With that said, Thurman is hoping that Pacquiao is able to land one of his normally concussive blows at some point during the fight.
“I think he got what it takes but I hope he gives Errol something good. We all wanna see that chin get touched.”
