His moniker, ?One Time,? was once apt, but now it seems less appropriate, more ironic, since Keith Thurman no longer looks quite as destructive as he did against opposition selected specifically to make him appear so. The solution to this problem of diminished returns was for the PBC to bring in a recognizable yet shopworn opponent Thurman could keelhaul in the type of performance that would remind everyone of how special he can be.
Enter Brooklyn, New York, welterweight Luis Collazo, a hardscrabble southpaw with a history of dropping close decisions to higher profile fighters, making them look awful in the process, and thereby giving himself enough hope and coin to continue lacing up his gloves. Collazo did as expected at the USF Sundome in Tampa, Florida, Saturday night, retiring on his stool at the end of the seventh round, unable to see out of an eye torn apart by a headbutt, yet strangely uninterested in lobbying for an outcome befitting the origin of his injury. ?If I would have come out of my corner again I probably would have gotten caught with some unnecessary shots and I didn?t need that,? reflected Collazo, revealing just how unnecessary victory has become for him, and how little he warrants another high profile crack at one.
Collazo did, however, provide some intrigue when he nearly floored Thurman with a body shot in the fifth round. It is perhaps telling of Thurman?s shifting identify, from boneshaker to jitterbug, that Collazo, the light-hitting fall guy, scored the most damaging blow of the fight. Because Thurman is a different fighter now and it is difficult to ascertain why. Yes, improved competition can account for some of his less spectacular showings, but it is not only the quality of fighter Thurman is facing?and he is hardly squaring off against world beaters?but how he is facing them. There was a time when Thurman, Clearwater, Florida, tore into his opposition, setting up his power with good footwork, and throwing in combination. But in recent fights Thurman has turned counter puncher, with ?One Time? reflecting not the number of punches he needs to ice someone so much as the number he throws at a time.
In the opening rounds against Collazo, Thurman looked uncomfortable in the role of aggressor; he was tentative and struggled to cut off the ring against a slick fighter, but one who is not hard to find. Collazo, 147, picked up on this newfound caution in Thurman?s game and used it against him. It may still be foolish for a less crafty fighter to walk Thurman down?a sloppy brawler like Shawn Porter, for example, would pay dearly for his mindless rushes?but Collazo, who slips punches well, was able to crowd Thurman, make him miss, and put hands on him.
Still, perhaps wary of getting countered too cleanly, Collazo simply did not throw enough to win rounds. Even after he hurt Thurman at the end of the fifth, Collazo, 36-7 (19), showed more life in celebrating this brief success?throwing up his hands and crowing after the bell?than he did in building on it in the following round. There was something of the opponent?s mentality in Collazo?s histrionics; it is the opponent that relishes the small victories while the one that matters is still up for grabs. Was it this pound of flesh snatched from Thurman?s body that allowed Collazo to so easily concede the fight three uneventful minutes later? Asked by the ringside physician if he wanted to continue, Collazo replied, ?That?s up to ya?ll. I can?t see.? His response purposely dodged the question but allowed Collazo to bow out?just in time for ESPN Sportscenter.
In a rare moment of insolence?even insubordination??Thurman called out Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the aftermath, saying he was ready to return to training camp immediately in order to be ready for Mayweather?s September swan song. Mayweather, who has mastered inaction, the dull art of obfuscating nothingness to his advantage, would have little trouble with a pot-shotting counter puncher, even if it were true?and it is not?that said fighter need only land once. Mayweather is probably not in Thurman?s future, because Thurman, 26-0 (22), figures prominently in the future of the PBC and is thus unlikely to be steered toward defeat. It is no coincidence that the four fighters treated most preciously by the PBC?Deontay Wilder, Danny Garcia, Leo Santa Cruz, and Thurman?have yet to lose.
So what is next for Thurman? It is difficult to say. The idea of moving toward an end, of progressing toward fights of greater magnitude, is a concept lacking in the PBC, which is stuck perpetually in the first phase of a round robin. An odd course of action for an organization with ?Champions? in its name.
