It is my pleasure to be joined on the podcast this week by Keith, one time Terman, the former unified welterweight champion of the world. But Keith, you are now fighting as if you're a bit away. First of all, welcome to the show. I know you're a little late. You're helping your daughter do some school stuff, so welcome, Thanks for doing this.
Happy to be here man, just grinding it out. We're weeks away from the big fight.
Exactly, so I'll tell everybody what you're going to be doing. You have a fight, a rescheduled fight that was supposed to originally take place last October. You will challenge the WBC Junior Middleweight world Champion, Sebastian Fondora for his title. Will take place on March twenty eighth, live on PBC on Prime Video pay per view from the MGM Grand Gardnera in Las Vegas, one of the great venues in
the history of the world. And as I mentioned, Keith, the fight was supposed to take place last October, the fight was two weeks away. He suffered a hand injury, the fight was postponed. And that's really the same position you've been in on the other side. Where you were a guy that was a couple of you know, two weeks ten days away from a important fight, and you suffer an injury, fight gets canceled, and I just wonder.
I've dealt with fights being postponed numerous times, but I'm not the fighter always curious how that impacts the guys that it does impact the two men that are supposed to get in the ring, where women for that matter. You always had a full camp and then suddenly one day there's no fight and no payday to go with it, and it's got to be very disappointing and kind of bums everybody out. So talk to me about what happened in October and sort of dealing with that situation.
Yeah, like you said, you know, I mean overall, I mean, it's just a bummer, you know, you know, because you had a fight schedule for October, and then my birthday month is November, and then of course holiday seasons December, so you know, we were hoping to get the fight and move into the.
Year this year, the new year of twenty twenty six.
As champion, right, and you know, it's been a long time since we got the ball rolling. I finally had after my setback and my injury when I had to pull out two weeks for the Tim Zoo fight, which led Fondora into the world championship status that he holds today.
You know, because he replaced you in that fight.
Yeah, he was the replacement, you know. So the thing about Fundora last year is he's the champ. You don't replace champions. You don't just call people champ.
We need another chimps come in two week notice, make a fight happen.
That doesn't happen, right, So I understood the scenario and the postponement, but that was just an unfortunate year once again where it's hard to get the ball rolling for killing Tom Thurman.
Since your two fights in twenty nineteen to win against Joses Seed Lopez and the loss of your title to Manny Pacyah, you know, it's been slow going. You had just a fight against Mario Barrios in twenty twenty two. You came back off of three and that was you know, you had a good win in that fight, came off a three year layoff, a lot of it injury related.
You went to Australia look good, I thought, in a third round knockout against brock Jarvis on Enemy Territory, and I'm wondering just how how frustrating is with the layoffs and and and the injuries that we talked about just before about with fights being postponed because of your injury, the forced the Zoo fight off, and of course then Fundora's injury that delayed this fight.
Yeah, I mean, you know, at the end of the day, last year was really it was it was fun, you know, because we opened up that brock Jarvis fight early in the year and it just felt good, right after three years once again, another from Mario Barrio's fight was a two and a half year comeback, then brock Jarvis was a three year comeback, right, So just all that inactivity, it was very unfortunate.
But I got to be, like you said on Enemy.
Territory, foreign land. But that's what I love about boxing. Boxing's taking me all over the world. Boxing's allowed me to see places in cities that my mother never took me up. Even in the amateur days.
We would just go to Fort Lauderdale for sparring, Fort Pierce for competitions.
I go all over the state of Florida. Then we go to regional events and national events, and I was going. I was always traveling. I got to fight in Canada as an amateur, got to fight in Canada as a pro, and so it just felt good because my roots in boxing is I'm not scared.
To travel and go places.
I've done it throughout my whole career, but obviously New York, Vegas, La Texas, Florida. We got plenty of action in the US, and so for the majority of my career I've been US bound. But it just felt good to get out there to meet the fans, because when you have world championship status, two time former world champion, you know you have fans from all over the world.
You see them pop up in your feed.
Oh love from the Philippines, love from the UK, love from Brazil, Like you know, we really have that status, world championship status. So it was a lot of fun to go to Sydney, have that comeback fight and interact with the fans that I haven't been able to interact with throughout my career. So that was really just a lovely experience. It was a blessing. It was kind of bucket list for me. I've always wanted to travel and make fights like that.
Happen.
So it was a beautiful experience. But we thought that we would get this ball roll in. I didn't get a summer fight, But.
I want to ask you about that was the big thing. Yeah, to Australia, you fought Jarvis, that was all predicated that you were going to be fighting Tim Zoo. He was ringside calling your fight. A few weeks later after your victory, he got his own victory, knocked out Joey Spencer, and it's like, okay, now we're going to see this, this fight that a lot of people were interested in. Keith one time terming against Tim Zoo and all of a
sudden he's not in the fight. He ends up going and taking the rematch against Sebastian Fundora, who dominates him, stops him.
Yeah, what happened to the fight between you and Tim?
You know, I mean it's pretty obvious he had options. You can only fight one guy at a time. This is not wwe people. We will not be seeing mashups where everyone gets in the rig and throwing each other all around the place. You know, maybe one day Dana White will make something happen, who knows, you know, But for right now, that's not what world class boxing is about.
So he must have had these options on the table, and his team chose to go for their strike at being champion of the world once again.
I think that was obviously the pool.
You know, we can say like, oh, you know, they saw my power, they saw I was how well my movement was.
Maybe they just.
Thought, you know, he's not old enough just yet, he's still a threat, and the reward is not there. If he's not champion, the reward is not there. I think that personally, they did see me as somewhat of a threat, and they saw Fandora, who had the title, a lesser
of a threat. And why did they Why did they see him as a lesser of a threat because the first time they fought, Fondora won on the on the back end of his jab, and the only damage that tim Zu suffered was the damage he dealt to himself when he when he went into Fandora's elbow.
And he was cut and bleeding.
So in his mind, Fandora didn't beat him up right in his mind.
And you look, you look pretty friend. You looked like a guy off a three year layoff against Rock Jarvis, So you know.
So I think they their risk reward.
I thought, you know, hey, before we fight Thurman, let us become champions again. Little did they know that the reason why Fandora was so timid in that fight was two reasons. Reason Number one, he was coming off of a KO loss to Mendoza.
Now, yeah, Brian Mendoza, right, brember Tis the layup I thought was the guy that knocked him out. Well, it was for the it was for the IDF title.
Yeah that's Zoo. I got you.
Yeah, yeah, I'm talking about Frondora.
I got you.
How Fandora got dropped? Right, So Fandora got dropped.
Now he's being a two week replacement against the undefeated Tim Zoo. That everybody I was an eight to one underdog, you know. So they were saying he was really scary. So I think a lot of that made fendor be very timid his loss and the two week notice, and they were trying to be very conservative. They took a very conservative approach, and they were able to be victorious. When the second fight came around, they realized like, hey,
Tim Zuo wasn't really that scary. Maybe I can hold my ground more, Maybe I don't need to be so timid and we all, well, we all saw Tim Zoo get dropped. We all saw his downfall, and Fandora got his matchup earlier last year, right, I think like within weeks after my fight, ye, he had a fight and he had a great performance, and I think that was a big confidence booster, so that when they renegotiated, he stepped into that ring last summer with all that confidence, you know.
And I want to get to a few other things beause I know we're gonna run out of time, So.
Maybe I wanted to say that because of that, he's going to be stepping into March twenty eighth with more confidence. He's gonna be he believes in himself once again. It's not easy to be coming off of KO losses and re establish that valor of a true fighting champion. But I believe Sebastian Fandora is exactly right there in his mental game, physical game, and me versus him in a few weeks from now is going to be fireworks.
Well, he did look pretty good against him in the rematch, for sure. One thing I always have to ask Sebastian Fandora opponents is about the wild discrepancy in the height. You are a listed that five foot nine. He is listed at six foot five. He's a very tall man. I'm six foot I've stood next to him. I gotta look up. Uh, how do you deal with that? And how do you even try to simulate that in a sparring?
Gotta get my spar partner six foot six and six foot four.
Okay, I got.
I got good guys. You know.
One happens to be a heavyweight, which is it's a little annoying. I told myself, I said, we're not hiring no heavyweights. And then look what I ended up doing.
I who these guys are that you're that are in with that are so tall?
Uh? We got we got Michael Fox and then man my my other guys. My trainer Tony brought him in. They're really close from winter Haven, and I don't have his name off the top of my head right now.
Okay, but it's I know Michael Fox is obviously he's got the height for sure, so you're you.
He got the height.
Tim Zu used him and Brian Mendoza use them in camps. He's the go to guy for the Fundora fight. He's the go to sparing partner. He's got a really nice long jab and we.
Just we just get used to it.
I was already doing I was already working with these two individuals last year, and just so happens.
That we could Recordinate Camp all over again. I'm very fortunate.
I'm very grateful to my sparing partners because they're giving me the looks that I need to understand that, like you said, discrepancy and to cover that distance.
It's it's a game, you know, it's footwork.
It's in and out, and you might, you know, I might be swinging in and missing a little bit, and then I got to press a little harder, and you know, but eventually, you know, I'm I'm learning how to touch these guys. And that's given me confidence that you know, Fondora too, he will be touched.
So during the last few years, since you've been somewhat idle and now you're thirty seven, we've discussed the inactivity situation with your career. These twenty eight years old. He seems to be in his prime. He's certainly been more active than you. What is the case that you make while you beat him based on those factors.
Gill's face, the bills man, look at the resume, look at the resume from the amateurs to the pros. Keith Thurmans fought the best in the world my whole life, you know.
I was by the time I was sixteen years old.
My sparring partners were Winki right, Jeff Lacy and Twine Echos, Chad Dawson, Andre Burdo.
Okay, a lot of good guys.
I've I've been in I've just been in the ring. I've been in the ring with some of the best fighters that boxing can can give. You know, right before the Olympic Trials, I was sparring Anthony Drell Right.
Yeah, and one thing you just mentioned is all the top quality names that you will fought. It made me think bat the fact, and I don't on my social media. I like to post my memorabilia, my posters and programs and such. And I recently posted the posters from your your tremendous battle you had with Danny Garcia nine years ago this month. That was the fight and you were that was a big time fight. It was live on CBS,
did millions of viewers. You're like on the verge. What I thought was big time start him at that point. You're on a tremendous run you had defended your welterweight title, beat Robert Carrero, beat Lewis Colazo by knockout, had a big win against Sean Porter, and then you beat Garcia and you're just you're cruising, you know what I mean, You're You're everything is going tremendous, and then you're out
after that fight for like two years. Do you ever let yourself think or allow yourself to think about what might have been with your career had you not had the injuries and you were able to be more active.
You know, water under the bridge.
You know you can't you can't help, but you can't help in life. You know, I don't wish anybody to have Keith Thurman's story.
You know, it's just for me. It's my story, it's my comeback. You can't have a comeback like me.
Okay, it's just for me, all right, But no, Like honestly, man, I don't wish this upon any fighter, any athlete.
You know.
After Danny Garcia, it was bone spur surgery, right yeah. And then after Manny pacyall it was bone fusion surgery, and then two weeks before the Tim Zoo fight, it was bicep tending surgery. Right, So at thirty seven years old, I'm three surgeries in and you know, and just still grinding.
It just is what it is.
I did my best to you know, obviously, when I came back in twenty nineteen, I made the fights and I made the pack y'all fight, and you know, we always made great action. And then really it was after that in twenty twenty in COVID there were some decisions I made that weren't good for my career. I chose not to fight when I got the phone call. I didn't know what the repercussions of that were gonna. Do you remember when Sean Porter was one of the first to come back for PBC in the Fox studio with
no fans. Yes, So I got that phone call first down, and I turned it down because I.
But to fight somebody, to fight somebody, yeah, not to.
Fight, not a rematch with Sean, to fight somebody.
I was coming off of my first career loss against Mandy pacyall they just wanted to keep me in the limelight, which I should have meditated on more. But I gave a quick answer or quick reaction, which was this sounds boring because I just fought in the MGM Grand with a packed arena, you know, and little did I know the repercussions, little did we all know what COVID was bringing us, right, So there was that.
Then once Vegas opened up, there was a lot of fighters.
That didn't get to fight, and because I wasn't champion, I wasn't pushed to the frontline at that time. But eventually I got my contract to fight Mario Barrios, right, and so even after that political things hit.
It wasn't my choice this time.
It was more some networks, some politics happening, and because I fought, I beat Barrios. But Barrios was back in the ring before I was back in the ring, right, which.
I always find unusual when things like that happened.
So, you know, I don't want anybody to have my story.
But luckily, thirty years in the game, I've been living this dream since I was seven years old, and I still believe big things are coming. I finally got my opportunity seven years from twenty nineteen. It's a seven year comeback people, not approximately it would be seven years this summer. It's approximately a seven year comeback from twenty nineteen that your man won one time is finally getting a world title shot.
They only want me to fight a giant.
They only want me to fight the living, walking, breathing Mount everest of a man fun Dora. But I'm ready, I'm focused, I do. I have all the confidence in the world that we're gonna represent and do what we do best, and that's put everybody through the Keith Thurman test.
So I'll just wrap up with this then, because you just mentioned about that you're back, and it's not like you feel like you're going anywhere. You win this title. You're you're back in big time business. It'll be your second fight at one fifty four, but it's one of the best divisions in boxing, and your presence in it
gives it another big name you've got besides yourself. In Fondora, there's a lot of conversation about you know what's gonna be if it's fight between Virgil Ortiz and Boots and this takes place, a very hot fight that a lot of people want to see. Sanders Aias is his unified champion. He just recently unified not that long ago. Josh Kelly just won a title where Tazalev is there. Tim Zu
is still around, came back with the victory. If you get this win that, I know what you expect to do is what's the and I know you want to fight the biggest fights. What's the big fight you think for yourself after this?
You know that's interesting, you know, I really, I really don't know, you know, because this is completely a new division. Like you said, there's a list of hot names. But you know, I'm kind of at I feel like I'm ready to go in any direction.
Right. We'll hear the money.
I'll take fights from I might take fights from one forty seven up to one sixty eight.
You know what I'm saying. I just want I want boxing, and just put Thorman back in the game.
Just let Thurman be in the mix, because there's no such thing as a bad Keith Darmant fighting as well.
You're back in You're back in the mix with an important fight, fight for the world title against Abastian Fandora. I wish you good luck, Keith. I thank you for your time in the I look forward to watching your fight on March twenty eight.
Don't blink, That's all I can say. Don't blame enjoy the show, Appreciate it.
Keith thank you sir, take care