Thurman Responds After Pulling Out Of The Tszyu Fight – ‘I Apologize To Everyone’
Keith Thurman has opened up on his withdrawal from the Tim Tszyu fight.
One Time was on course to headline PBC’s first PPV on Amazon Prime Video. He has only fought once since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2019. That was a unanimous decision win over Mario Barrios. The former Unified Welterweight Champion would have faced Tszyu in a non-title fight. While that may have been the case, the massive exposure from fighting on Amazon Prime Video would have benefitted him.
But Thurman injured his bicep in sparring. Sebastian Fundora has now stepped in as a replacement.
Things got worse for Thurman, as the fight now has two titles on the line. Tszyu will defend his WBO Junior Middleweight Title, and the vacant WBC Junior Middleweight Title is also up for grabs. The winner will, therefore, become the Unified Junior Middleweight Champion. Thurman has been left disappointed by the injury.
Thurman Reacts
“As you guys already know, my biceps tendon snapped. I saw the doctor today, and we talked about the surgery. We’re going to try and get it done next week; the sooner the better so that we can start healing and recovering and then put ourselves back in the beautiful sport of boxing. So, it’s very unfortunate. I apologize to everyone who was really looking forward to this competition and who was in my corner trying to support me. It has been rough.
“It’s never easy for a competitor to step out of the competition, especially when we were two weeks out, five pounds to go, working and rolling hard. I apologize to Tszyu. You wanted to punch me; I wanted to punch you. Hopefully, in the future, we can still make that happen some way somehow, baby. Best of luck to the fight, best of luck to Fundora. Everybody still support and enjoy the show,” Thurman said
Thurman has also missed out on the chance to face Terence Crawford. The WBO recently ordered the winner of Tszyu-Fundora to face Bud. Crawford is the WBO Super Champion at 147, making him mandatory if he moves up to 154. That means Crawford has the chance to become a three-weight world champion.
Tszyu On Fundora
If Thurman had beaten Tszyu, he could have had one more chance at a mega-fight. But now Tyzyu has been given the opportunity to secure a major win. He will fight a huge southpaw on less than two weeks’ notice. He could have opted to delay the fight, but the fact that he has gone ahead shows his willingness to fight the best. Based on his following comments, he is ready to make a statement.
“This fight is awkwardness – you’ve got someone that’s tall, lanky, whose got a completely different style to Thurman who I’ve been prepping for eight weeks – but nothing fazes me, nothing worries me. This is unification so there’s another belt on the line, another legacy-defining type fight … hopefully one day they will say the Tszyu name is the greatest family to ever step foot inside this boxing world,” Tsyzu revealed
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