Keith Thurman (31-1, 23 KO) successfully returned to the ring in the third round of technical knockout at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on Wednesday night.
WHO
The former WBC and WBO middleweight champion Thurman, 36, beat Jarvis twice in the third round with a big shot. Referee Will Soulos stopped the fight after his second knockout. The official time for the shutdown is 2:19 on the round.
During the first knock, Thurman reached his right hand towards Jarvis’ head, causing him to fall hard. When he recovered, he defeated the Count, but when the action started over, it looked in poor condition.
Keith then killed the killer, unloaded it on Jarvis, and knocked him down with his left hook. Referee Soulos immediately stopped the fight because Brock would not stand up from this knockout round.
In the first round, Thurman threw almost nothing, walking around trying to stay away from the range of the younger, stronger 27-year-old Jarvis. In the middle of the round, Jarvis rushed Thurman and nailed him with his repeated powerful bodywork, which apparently plagued the aging former welterweight champion.
Jarvis was filled with the left hook, barely missing Thurman’s head during the round’s closing. That’s a shot, and if connected, it will cause damage.
Thurman shot two hard balls in the second round, which caught Jarvis’ attention and seemed to hurt him a little. Australia looks temporary after being hit by these punches and is not as aggressive as he did in the last round.
Still, Keith didn’t do much to make himself hit with Brock’s hard shots. You can see that there is a big difference between the two in this round. Thurman is similar to an old man.
In the third round, Thurman tangles Jarvis around the ring, throwing the powerful but very slow right hand and left hook. Then, “once” tied Jarvis to the rope and put a perfect right hand on his right, placing him hard on the canvas. Surprisingly, Brock stood up from the knockout, but he looked unconditionally still fighting. Thurman chased him, finished the work with the left hook, and placed him on the canvas.
Lost speed
The battle is Thurman’s first in three years since February 5, 2022, and he looks much slower than the last game against Mario Barrios that year. Since then, Thurman has a lot of stuff in hand speed and mobility, and that won’t be back.
By defeating Jarvis, Thurman is expected to face former WBO junior champion Tim Tszyu in the summer of Australia. Tszyu lost his last two battles and lost in the third round of knockout against IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.
In this battle, you have to prefer Tszyu over Thurman because Keith looks slow tonight. The lack of speed and working speed will put Thurman at the mercy of almost any top 15 middleweight middleweight. He lost too much from the game to beat any top 154 pounds. Based on his performance tonight, I can’t think of any notable contenders that Thurman might beat.
Last updated on March 12, 2012
