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When NBC announced it would be hosting PBC on its channel, the boxing community sensed this would be a huge break-through in connecting the sport to mainstream audiences. The boxing gods, or just Al Haymon, chose the right card to start off this huge turning point in boxing. Perhaps this also sheds some light on why one of the card’s headliners, Keith Thurman, turned down a multi-million dollar offer by Roc Nation Sports last year.
Robert Guerrero certainly agrees that PBC is a huge step for the sport of boxing. “Al Haymon is brilliant for bringing boxing back to network television, especially on NBC,” he told RingTV.com. He had no problem admitting Thurman brings a lot to the table, though Guerrero has a strategy of his own:
[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered”]His strength is definitely in his power. Thurman has a high knockout ratio and he’s the naturally bigger man, who’s never fought under 147-pounds. I’m not going to talk about his weaknesses because that’s confidential information. I will be testing his chin though; that you can count on.[/otw_shortcode_quote]
Thurman on the other hand, doesn’t think this will be an easy fight for Guerrero, and plans to one-up Floyd Mayweather’s performance against him. He declared in response to Jeff Mayweather’s characterization of him as “average” that he is far from that (via BadLeftHook.com).
[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered”]Call me average if you want to. My punching power and knockout ratio are not average. My ring intelligence isn’t average. We’ll prove it on March 7th. We have an opportunity to out-perform Mayweather and we’re going to do so.[/otw_shortcode_quote]
Thurman’s trainer, Dan Birmingham, confirms this, noting that he recognized above average talent in Thurman at 15 years old. “We saw he could box with anybody and was also knocking grown men out.” (via Premier Boxing Champions).
His trainers even developed the “Thurman Test,” where fresh faces in the gym would have to spar 15 year-old Thurman to assess their skill level. If Thurman wasn’t afraid of fighting grown men then, there’s no reason to believe he’s afraid now.
