THE used-to-be undefeated boxer Keith Thurman finally learned his lesson the hard and painful way. Since the start of the promotion about his bout against boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, he kept talking trash against the world’s only 8-weight division champion. In one of his boastful tirades, he even got Mommy Dionisia (Manny’s mom) angry at him. But the future Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao utilized the loudmouth Thurman’s trash talks to motivate him instead.
The fight’s promotion had been a lot of flying insults by the younger Keith telling reporters he would beat the aging Pacquiao into retirement.
Last weekend in Nevada, Thurman failed to back up his noise. Early in the first round of the match, he knew he made a big time mistake. The humble Pacquiao humiliated the previously 29-0 boxer from the start and made him suffer the first defeat of his professional career... by a 40-year-old man.
Keith’s training camp seemed to have forgotten him to train with other parts of his body other than his beak because Professor Pacquiao gave him a lesson wherein the boxing legend made his fists do the talking. Thurman’s trainers must have also skipped watching YouTube where a volume of videos are uploaded showing what happens when cocky boxers trash talk the boxing senator.
Too bad nobody from Keith’s side had warned him. He might have realized it was all too late when he experienced that lightning speed combination that led him floored to his knockdown on the very first round. That moment got the crowd going wild. It showed to suggest that they wanted more of that punishment to the “One Time” Thurman.
Pacquiao fans initially did not just want a unanimous victory by Manny. They wanted a knockout win against the self-assertive Keith. They had too much of his cockiness on interviews and press conferences that they could not take the insult versus their Filipino hero.
But after all the thrown punches, it seemed that Thurman’s brain had aligned to the well-mannered set. Right after the decision had been announced, Thurman - who has this bad habit of talking trash - suddenly changed his tone and immediately praised the legendary Pacquiao. His face being mauled by the power punches of Pacman, he was still upbeat after his first career loss and thanked Pacquiao and the boxing fans for the opportunity.
My props to Thurman for he chose to be classy and gracious in defeat. He is still young and in his prime, far from the end of his potentially long career in boxing. Pacquiao was just too much for him. Manny is a freak of nature. Boxing analysts kept on saying that they won’t see another boxer like Manny in their lifetime.