3 Fighters Who Would Beat Keith Thurman Right Now

Keith “One Time” Thurman took a razor-close decision over Danny Garcia last weekend to remain undefeated. Here are three guys who would take that 0 from him.

Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) isn’t stopping guys with the frequency he once did – just two knockouts in his last six fights – but he is winning. Thurman topped Danny “Swift” Garcia last weekend in Brooklyn to unify the WBA and WBC welterweight championships.

Thurman has established himself as the leader of the pack at 147 pounds. He may have to ditch his “One Time” moniker, but victories over the likes of Garcia, Shawn Porter and Robert Guerrero don’t come easy. In fact, no one has stopped any of those guys.

Though he’s earned those victories, Thurman hasn’t looked unbeatable in any of those fights. You can argue his last two fights, close decision wins, could just as easily have gone against him. They’ve certainly exposed a few chinks in his armor: Thurman doesn’t take body shots well and isn’t so comfortable under pressure.

Boxing fans will have to wait and see what’s next for Thurman, and Garcia for that matter, but here are three guys who could very well hand him his first loss.

Don’t be fooled by his record, Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (24-2-2, 14 KOs) is a tough out for anyone between welterweight and middleweight. Lara’s been pursuing a fight with Gennady Golovkin for the past couple years, to no avail.

Lara campaigns at junior middleweight (154 pounds), but Thurman’s fought a handful of bouts above welterweight. A fight between the two may not be on the horizon, but it isn’t so far-fetched.

Between his stance, straight-left hand and boxing IQ, the rangy southpaw has all the tools to trouble Thurman. His style would further complicate things.

Lara’s a sharpshooter and counterpuncher, he’d force Thurman to come forward. As seen against Porter and Garcia, Thurman prefers to stay at distance and pick his opportunities.

If the two square off, I’d favor Lara by a close decision in a slow-paced fight.

Terence “Bud” Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs) is one of the hottest fighters in boxing, and for good reason. There isn’t much he can’t do in the squared-circle. Crawford can sharpshoot, slug, counterpunch, and switch between an orthodox and southpaw stance. Here’s the kicker: he does all of those things well.

Crawford has knocked out four of his last five opponents. Even the one he didn’t stop, Viktor Postol, he dominated. He forced Viktor Postol into survival-mode the rest of the way, after two early knock downs, en route to a lopsided unanimous decision win.

Thurman said he’d treat Garcia like a computer, “copy and paste” what was working. He wouldn’t be able to do the same with Crawford. Similar to Floyd Mayweather, “Bud” takes the first few rounds of a fight to measure his opponent. By the middle rounds, he’s got more answers than anyone has been able to deal with thus far.

If the two meet, give me Crawford by decision in an action-packed bout where both men are visibly hurt a time or two throughout.

Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) is still ascending, but his talent far outweighs his status at this point in his career. That’s precisely why most fighters prefer avoiding him, if possible.

He annihilated Leonard Bundu in his last fight, something Thurman couldn’t do. He destroyed Chris Algieri the fight before that, something Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan failed to do before him.

Spence appears set to take on IBF welterweight titleholder Kell Brook in May, and an impressive win vaults him onto everyone’s radar. Brook has only lost once, to Golovkin at middleweight in a fight he had no business taking.

For his part, Spence very matter-of-factly tells FightHype he’d stop Thurman (video above). I’d agree. If Spence can avoid getting hit with sweeping shots, he’ll stop “One Time” inside nine.