Pacquiao vs. Thurman: Filipino promises to let his fists do the talking
Ahead of their World Boxing Association bout in Las Vegas in July, Manny Pacquiao has vowed to pay an end to Keith Thurman’s perfect record and silence him in the process. The Filipino boxing legend has become embroiled in a war-of-words with Thurman and he was quick to hit back, explaining that the American is “arrogant” and stressed his confidence of beating the 30-year-old ahead of the fight on the 20th.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena will play host to the fight, as the two welterweights go toe-to-toe in what promises to be an exciting and tense match up. Thurman has even confirmed how confident he is of beating Pacquiao into retirement, but the eight-division world champion has 70 professional fights to his name and he’ll certainly want to call it a day on his own terms. Which way do you think the fight will go? The Thurman v Pacquiao betting will be high on the agenda so check out the best prices right now.
Pacquiao’s promises
“He’s a loudmouth outside the ring. Let’s see if he can back it up inside the ring,” Pacquiao said after a recent training session in Manila.
“Some boxers are arrogant while other boxers are humble. Thurman? We know he’s arrogant,” added the Filipino.
“I’m so motivated for this training camp because of his trash talk, like that. I would rather have my fists do the talking,” Pacquiao confirmed.
Much has been made of Pacquiao’s future in the ring as he’s no spring chicken anymore – turning 41 in December – but he has vowed that younger opponents, even those ten years younger than him, pose little worry or concern.
“My last fight was (Adrien) Broner and he was only 29 years old. That’s not a problem,” he added.
Thurman’s Tupac comments
Currently, Thurman has an unblemished record of 29-0 with 22 knockouts so he certainly poses a genuine threat to Pacquiao. On the other hand, Pacman has record of 61-7-2 win, loss & draw and Thurman remains positive that he can inflict an eighth defeat on Pacquiao.
“It’s a blessing to be on this stage and have a fight of this magnitude. I’m an all-American fighter, an all-American champion and come July 20, I’m going to stay champion,” Thurman said.
“Manny is a world class fighter. He’s a gentleman inside and outside of the ring. I look forward to trading punches with a living legend. But one thing’s for sure, he’s not walking away with my title.
“All Manny does is hop around in the ring. I’m not going to lose to a bunny rabbit. He’s not Tupac, but he does a little hip hop and he’s not going to stop until he gets dropped.
More recently, Thurman stirred up the war of words even further by claiming he will be the man to force Pacquiao into retirement – although Pacquiao will almost certainly have other ideas.
“His legacy ends on July 20. He’s had a wonderful career, and been an inspiration. We all love him and respect him. And I’m respectfully going to kick the s*** out of him,” Thurman vehemently claimed.
No matter what happens on 20th July, expect fireworks between Pacquiao and Thurman and the former will need to rely upon all of his experience and guile, so let’s see if he does let his fists do the talking to claim the WBA (Super) welterweight title.
