With his career winding down and probably only 1 meaningful fight left in his career, where do you rate him? He's still probably a Top 5 WW and has been for at least 6-7 years despite never being the #1 guy. Does Keith get into HOF? Is he just a decent-good champ? How do you guys think he does versus: Mosley Cotto Trinidad JMM Trinidad Quartey Winky Pernell Margarito I excluded definite losses like Floyd and DLH but am curious if anyone thinks Thurman could win most or any of these fights.
Out of this whole list, maybe beats JMM, but just due to his size advantage. Ans unless he hurts Margarito early, he'll get worn down.
Today, he's still top five. All time, Keith Thurman was a very good welterweight champion. Most welterweight champions in history have been fairly solid. Truthfully, there were only a handful of exceptional welterweight champs in history, as well as some pretty awful ones (like Billy Backus). But, by and large, welterweight champions are usually very good fighters overall. Keith Thurman was one of them. You know, most of the people you listed there were champs in different weight divisions. And Winky Wright and Juan Manuel Marquez were never welterweight champs. Keith Thurman certainly had a much better run as a welterweight champion than a lot of boxers in history. Thurman had a much better run at welterweight than Ike Quartey had, for example. The majority of names Quartey fought were at 154 and even 160. And Thurman was never really a junior middleweight. He's right in that pocket between 145 and 150. He's about as natural a welterweight as we see anymore. Spent nearly his whole career there. So I doubt he'll move up to challenge at 154, now that he's winding down. As a true welterweight champion, I think Keith Thurman will end up being rated fairly high all time. Around the same as Carlos Palomino, if not higher. In the "very good welterweight champion" range ... he's not elite, but he's on the higher end of the "very good" spectrum. He's had a very good pro career. (That's a lot of "very goods" for one post. But, that's what he was, for the most part.)
One was an upgraded title and the other was taken from Danny Garcia who was gifted his belt against less that seller opposition. He was good but his resume is really poor. Very similar to Kell Brook but slightly lower.
Sure, but was still the only unified champ at WW and had the best claim to the be called the Champ. Would have liked to see a unification w/ Brook. And would probably favor Brook.
I believe Thurman lost his love for boxing. He had some nagging injuries, took lots of time off and when he returned he was a different fighter. He has not been anywhere near the top in a very long time. The guy who lost to the ghost of Manny was a shell of the guy fighter he once was.
Whether Keith Thurman could beat Kell Brook is debatable. That would've been a good fight. But Keith Thurman had a better run at welterweight than Brook did. Thurman made eight WBA title defenses. Kell made three successful IBF welterweight defenses. Thurman unified the WBC and WBA belts. Brook didn't engage in any unifications. Thurman beat welterweight titlists Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Carlos Quintana, Luis Collazo, Mario Barrios and contenders like "Ghost" Guerrero, Julio Diaz, Leonard Bundu, Diego Chaves, Josesito Lopez. Kell Brook also beat a welterweight titlist in Porter, beat Khan (who Danny Garcia demolished), Senchenko, Frankie Gavin (who Bundu beat) and not really much else. (Even Julio Diaz had Khan on the deck and most thought Diaz won that fight.) Yes, Brook challenged himself against Golovkin, Spence and Crawford. But he lost badly to all of them. Regardless of who you think wins in a fight between them, Brook didn't have a better run at welterweight than Thurman did. Thurman was a more successful welterweight champion and beat better fighters than Brook did. Again, I think Thurman will be positioned on the higher end at welterweight all-time.
He beats Marquez and I also think possibly Margarito at his very best, before he started playin bullhorns and meditating.....................I think he beats the Mosley that Floyd beat but loses to the Mosley that beat Oscar. Tito, Cotto, Sweet Pea and Quartey beat him. Him and Winky would never ever fight, Winky embraced him and schooled him as a pup.