Via Dan Ambrose: Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman Says Fans Shouldn’t Mind Paying Dollars74.75 to see him face off against Mario Barrios in his return on FOX Sports pay-per-view on February 5th as they will see a “stacked card” from top to bottom. Event organizers could run into trouble charging $74.75 for Thurman’s return.
If One were to fight someone like Errol Spence Jr, Terence Crawford or Gervonta Davis, it wouldn’t be a big deal to ask that many questions, but he’s facing the former paper champion in Barrios, who is about to lose. KO before Tank.
(Image source: Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions)
Unfortunately, fans disagree with former WBA/WBC heavyweight champion Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) that his battle card goes up against ‘regular’ WBA lightweight champion Barrios (26 -1.17 KO) is a “stacked” card at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Boxing fans felt that Thurman didn’t fight enough to justify the high $75 mark for what was essentially an adjustment to his comeback fight. For Thurman, this is his fourth battle in five years. That’s less than one war per year.
Thurman vs. Barrios below:
- Josesito Lopez and Abel Ramos
- Leo Santa Cruz vs Keenan Carbajal
- Enriko Gogokhia vs. Kent Cruz
- Fernando Vargas vs Kody Koboski
- Luis Nery and Carlos Castro
Former four-division world champion, Leo Santa Cruz is a good fighter, but he lost a deadly knockout to Gervonta Davis in October 2020. The little-known Santa Cruz vs Keenan Carbajal fight is a well-balanced match and not with high expectations. compete. Carbajal is not a candidate. He’s a second-rate boxer.
In the main support match, 37-year-old outerweight contender Josesito Lopez (38-8, 21 KOs) will face off against Abel Ramos (27-4-2, 21 KO). At this point in Josesito’s career, he’s a cruise level fighter.
To be fair, none of those guys will win world titles for the rest of their careers. Josesito has been around and faced a lot of top guys throughout his long career, but he is not a champion and will not be.
Former two-division world champion Luis Nery will lose to Brandon Figueroa in the seventh round in May 2021.
Nery’s rival, Carlos Castro, is undefeated and highly ranked, but he has no strength and has never fought anyone of note. Castro is NOT a household name and neither is Nery.
Thurman explains PPV cost $74.74
Thurman told Behind the gloves when asked why his match with Barrios sold for $74.95 on FOX Sports pay-per-view. 2022, COVID, a lot has changed in the world. Go buy your groceries. What is the price of your groceries today?
“You’d pay $80 for groceries,” Thurman went on to justify the $74.75 price tag for his comeback fight against the recently knocked down 140-pound WBA middleweight champion is Barrios.
“You pay $40 if you put the water in the fridge. So if you’re going to talk about price, I’ll put on my political hat and start talking about the value of the US dollar. I’ll start talking about how bubblegum isn’t 25 cents anymore.
Take a look at February 5. What do you get? You don’t just get Keith Thurman and Mario Barrios. This is not Shawn Porter against Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, where no one wants to see the undercard, “One Time” Thurman said.
Due to the ongoing pandemic and many boxing fans having a headache for money, the price of PPV will not increase. It will come down, especially for Thurman, who has been out of the limelight for three years since his defeat to Manny Pacquiao in 2019.
If Thurman is a world champion, regularly fighting and beating the best, $75 is reasonable to charge fans. But in this case, Thurman has had two lengthy layoffs in the past five years, including more than 2 years each, and his record is 1-1.
Thurman’s activities over the past seven years:
- 2021 – not working
- 2020 – inactive
- 2019 – Manny Pacquiao & Josesito Lopez
- 2018 – inactive
- 2017 – Danny Garcia
- 2016 – Shawn Porter
- 2015 – Luis Collazo and Robert Guerrero
Keith says the bottom card is PACKED
This is one of the most stacked cards of the year, says Thurman. “I cannot guarantee that my next fight will have a stacked bottom card like this one. I’ll be backstage to warm up and watch each game.
“It’s going to be a great boxing night,” Thurman said. “From the point of view pay per view, you will have action packed battles. This isn’t just a Thurman gig. I would love to get all the credit.
“The squad we have is huge. I’m looking forward to culminating in some of these backstage fights. There will be some that you won’t want to miss.
“Josesito Lopez vs Abel Ramos is one of them. Both of those boxers don’t know how to back down. Someone will get hurt; someone will need a doctor. I can predict.
“Those boys will throw left and right punches, they won’t move an inch, and they will try to make a statement.
“I want my match to be the best fight of the night, but I can’t guarantee that with his career. You have great battles throughout the night. This is not your average pay-per-view. This is not where you buy Floyd Mayweather. This is not where you buy just one fight.
“This is a stacked card, and when you consider that, I think you’ll understand why we’re asking $75 for this pay-per-view. This is a boxing night that true fighting fans won’t miss,” Thurman said.
Dan Ambrose disagrees with Thurman on his assertion that his bottom card is stacked. The fact is, the lower part doesn’t have high level combat ability.
Yes, there are two talented fighters in the lower division Luis Nery and Leo Santa Cruz, but neither of them are world champions. Furthermore, both of them lost in the knockout round.
Thurman suggested inviting friends
“Anyone who wants to keep their COVID night safe, they don’t want to go to the club,” Thurman said. “By war, invite some friends over, and make them give you $10.
“I will take the burden off you. Ask them to bring a pack of beer. Take the fish & chips out, whatever you need to do, because it’s going to be a great night.
“This is 2022, the year we are in, and that is where we are in the world. It’s going to be a great night of boxing,” Thurman said.
I don’t think enough boxing fans would be willing to buy Thurman vs. Barrios on PPV for profit, but that could be wrong.
At this point, Thurman has been out of the ring too long for him to fight on PPV, and his opponent is not a pay-per-level boxer.
I know Barrios fought PPV in his last bout, but he’s facing Gervonta Davis. That fight wasn’t PPV-worthy either, but Mayweather Promotions took a gamble and adopted pay-per-view.
