Keith Thurman has claimed that Sebastian Fundora will know what it is like to face a boxing \u201clegend\u201d as he plans to put him on the canvas when they meet.<\/p>\n
WBC super welterweight champion Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) makes the third defense of his title when he takes on Thurman at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 28.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a heavy weight on the shoulders being champion,\u201d Thurman said during a virtual press conference. \u201cI know! He\u2019s gonna see what an OG can do\u2026I\u2019ve got several more tangos left in me and that\u2019s what March 28 is all about. I\u2019m back in the spotlight and ready to showcase my talents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he goes down, he\u2019s gonna realize what a legend is. He hasn\u2019t met one yet. He knows what he needs to tell himself to get in the ring like it\u2019s just another day. I take it a little more seriously than that, and he\u2019s gonna find out that March 28 isn\u2019t just another day, it\u2019s Thurman\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) claimed his first world title when he was elevated to WBA welterweight champion ahead of stepping in the ring with Robert Guerrero in 2015. The Floridian secured a comfortable unanimous decision, dropping Guerrero in the ninth round.<\/p>\n
Following victories against Luis Collazo and Shawn Porter, Thurman would unify the division against WBC champion Danny Garcia, winning a close split decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cDanny Garcia is the only champion I\u2019ve gotten to take the belt from,\u201d Thurman explained. \u201cNow it\u2019s happening for the second time and in a second division. I\u2019m ready to keep writing my history.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be an extreme height advantage on the side of Fundora, who stands at a lanky 6 foot 5 inches. Thurman stands at 5 foot 9 inches, much like most of Fundora\u2019s previous opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sparring partners definitely have the height and reach that\u2019s gotten me familiar with what I need,\u201d Thurman continued. \u201cOf course I won\u2019t be facing the real Sebastian Fundora until I\u2019m in the ring, just like he won\u2019t be facing the real Keith Thurman until then.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in there trading punches with heavyweights for this fight. My two sparring partners are giving both of Fundora\u2019s looks, the come-forward fighter or the back-foot jabber, and they\u2019ve got me prepared for whatever he brings on March 28.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will also be a large discrepancy in age between the pair, with Thurman being nine years older than the defending champion at 37 years old. Whether experience will be a factor in the upcoming clash remains unknown, as Fundora\u2019s most high-profile victories came against Australia\u2019s Tim Tszyu.<\/p>\n
\u201cFundora is starting to get better and better,\u201d Thurman added. \u201cHe\u2019s starting to get some of those layers. But it takes a fight like this to really reach the highest level. That\u2019s what makes great champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m healthy and I\u2019m ready to get in the ring and swing. I want the best. Fundora says he\u2019s the best. I love going for the belt and taking the belt. That\u2019s what boxing is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keith Thurman has claimed that Sebastian Fundora will know what it is like to face a boxing \u201clegend\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,11366,5155,82],"class_list":["post-531133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-keith-thurman","tag-sebastian-fundora","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}