Manny Pacquiao did the business for us last weekend as the Filipino – as expected – dissected Adrien Broner over twelve rounds of boxing. The focus of this week is still the 147-pounds, welterweight division as Keith Thurman makes his return to the ring after an absence of nearly two years.
One Time’s last outing was in March of 2017 as he tore Danny Garcia’s WBC strap away from him whilst retaining his WBA title in the process. Since then, an elbow injury has kept the 30-year-old out of the ring and away from the big money fights in what is surely one of the most interesting divisions in world boxing.
His opponent this weekend, Josesito Lopez, is a big underdog coming into the fight (a 12/1 shot with BetVictor to win the fight outright) – a clear indication of the gulf between both fighters inside the Barclays Center, New York.
Thurman is unbeaten in his 28 outings as a professional, with 22 coming inside the distance via KO, however, how strong he looks in his comeback fight will be the talk of the boxing world on Saturday night as we continue to argue about the man to beat in the welterweight division.
Lopez isn’t expected to offer much of a test for Thurman. A respected journeyman in the sport, the 34-year-old veteran will be used by Thurman to get the ring rust off and determine whether One Time has the desire back to succeed at the highest level. A journeyman, yes, a bum, no. Lopez is tough, experienced and knows how to dig in deep; whether he can take Thurman the distance is the biggest real question coming into the fight.
Losses to Andre Berto, Marcos Maidana, Canelo Alvarez and Jessie Vargas signify the level Lopez is at; he was stopped by three of these all in the first half of the fight – a measuring stick for anything Thurman throws at the challenger.
Yes, Lopez is tough, but if Thurman is close to peaking in the 147-pounds division again then he will stop ‘Riverside Rocky’. Four of Thurman’s last six wins have come on the scorecards but against much higher levels of opposition.
We can get 4/7 on the favourite winning the bout by stoppage. Unless there is a big shock in the Barclays Center, it looks a fairly safe bet with Thurman putting his foot on the gas in the latter stages of the fight. It’ll be a case of one more time for One Time.
Keith Thurman to beat Josesito Lopez by KO, TKO or Disqualification @ 4/7 (BetVictor)
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