Starting out

Born in Clearwater, Florida, Keith Thurman was discovered at the age of 7 by renowned trainer Ben Getty.

At the time, Getty was holding a boxing exhibition in the cafeteria of Thurman’s school.

Thurman took the sign-up sheet home to his mother in order to participate in the event, and told her that he wanted to box.

The fighter known as "One Time” been doing so ever since, and the undefeated 147-pound world champion has become one of boxing's top stars with his fan-friendly style and natural, almost offhanded charisma.

A champ since childhood

As an amateur fighter, Thurman won six national championships and recorded more than 100 victories, setting the stage for a promising pro career.

After Getty passed away in 2009, Thurman moved into the stable of Dan Birmingham, best known for helping turn Jeff Lacey and Winky Wright into world titlists as well as having worked with former world champion Chad Dawson for a time.

A natural-born knockout artist

Thurman has earned nearly all of his victories by knockout.

And a number of them have come against some of the most rugged participants in a rugged sport.

To wit, Thurman burst onto the national scene with a savage four-round destruction of former world champion Carlos Quintana in November 2012.

Quintana retired after the brutal loss.

From there, Thurman would hand no-nonsense Argentinean Diego Chaves his first defeat via 10th-round knockout, winning an interim 147-pound title in the process, before gaining a ninth-round technical knockout of Mexican tough-guy supreme Jesus Soto Karass.

In his last bout as interim champion, Thurman won a unanimous decision over Italian star Leonard Bundu in Las Vegas on December 13, 2014.

A fighter with finesse

As intense as he can be inside the ring, Thurman is a thoughtful, engaging presence outside of it.

A voracious reader fond of books with a philosophical bent, Thurman’s a laid-back guy who drives a Prius and chills with his Chihuahuas.

But when the bell rings, another side of Thurman comes out.

Despite his nickname, “One Time” has demonstrated that he can go the distance.

In March 2013, Thurman won a grueling 12-round decision over former champion Jan Zaveck, a rough-and-tumble Slovenian with a stout defense.

That fight, in particular, underscored a key point: Thurman’s a boxer who can brawl, not the other way around.

“I want to have eyes like a shark, but also eyes like an eagle,” he told the Tampa Bay Times in 2010, highlighting his emphasis on ring savvy as opposed to merely hunting for knockouts.

“I want to be able to see things coming before they come, and when I can tell I have you bleeding or on the ropes, I want to be able to execute and finish the job.”

A smashing success in his PBC debut

Thurman took on four-division champion Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on March 7, 2015, in the first Premier Boxing Champions card.

Fighting on prime time on NBC, Thurman stepped up his game in winning a 12-round unanimous decision. He won nearly every round on all three judges' cards, and scored a ninth-round knockdown.

With the win, Thurman improved to 25-0 and solidified his status as one of the world's top fighters in the 147-pound division.

Returning to fight in the Sunshine State for the first time since 2009, Thurman made his homecoming as world champion by taking on former titleholder Luis Collazo at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa on July 11, 2015.

While firmly in control for most of the fight, Thurman was rocked in Round 5 by a body shot that nearly brought him to a knee. He remained steadfast, though, and opened a cut above Collazo’s right eye that caused the challenger’s corner to throw in the towel after Round 7.

Becoming a unified world champion

In June 2016, Thurman defended his title for the third time against former world champion Shawn Porter. Fighting before a crowd of 12,718 at Barclays Center and a national television audience on CBS, Thurman earned a close unanimous decision—all three judges scored the bout 115-113—in a high-action contest that earned consideration for Fight of the Year.

Thurman made the leap from champion to star in his next fight as he returned to Brooklyn in March 2017 to face unbeaten two-division champion Danny Garcia, who stepped up from 140 pounds to win a vacant 147-pound crown in January 2016.

Their fight was not only the 10th title unification in division history, it was just the third between undefeated welterweights, following 1981’s Fight of the Year between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns and 1999’s Felix Trinidad-Oscar De La Hoya showdown.

With a Barclays Center boxing-record crowd of 16,533 watching along with a national prime-time audience on CBS, Thurman edged his way to a split decision over Garcia to entrench himself firmly atop the division.

Returning from Adversity

From February 2016 through March 2017, Thurman was limited to a title defense versus Porter and a unification against Garcia.

Surgery on his right elbow sidelined him for the rest of 2017. When he returned, he suffered another injury, this time to his left hand, that kept him out of the ring in 2018.

Thurman vacated the WBC title in April 2018, with the caveat of being able to challenge its reigning champion upon his return. In September 2018, he watched from ringside at Barclays Center as Porter earned his injury-vacated WBC crown by unanimous decision over Garcia.

After 22 months, Thurman returned versus battle-tested, former world title challenger Josesito Lopez (36-7, 19 KOs) on January 26 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, live on FOX PBC Fight Night.

Thurman flashed his elite skills, dropping Lopez with a perfect counter left hook in the second and dominating the first half of the bout with his boxing skills and athleticism. Lopez roared back in the seventh, hurting Thurman with a left hook followed by a straight round. The game veteran picked it up during the championship rounds, but Thurman’s speed, skill—and heart—proved too much to overcome. He won a majority decision by scores of 117-109, 115-111 and 113-113.

“[Lopez] had me buzzed and shaken up in the seventh round, but I tried to stay on the outside away,” Thurman said afterward. “I was a little off in my prediction of how long his arms were. He lunged in and was really willing to commit to the knockout.

“He came right for me. I said you wouldn't see the best Keith Thurman tonight, but you'd still see a world class performance, and I gave you that tonight.”

Taking on the "Pac Man"

On Saturday, July 20, 2019, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Thurman took on Philippine Senator and boxing icon Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao in a blockbuster era-defining showdown, live on PBC on FOX Sports PPV.

A sell-out crowd of 14,356 witnessed a historical night as the 40-year old Pacquiao turned in one of the finest performances of his career, dethroning WBA Super World Welterweight Champion Keith Thurmanby 12-round split decision in a Fight of the Year candidate. 

Thurman landed 192 power punches, the most ever landed on Pacquiao in the 43 bouts of his that have been tracked by CompuBox. Pacquiao dropped him with a left to the solar plexus followed by a straight right upstairs late in the opening round, a round Thurman was winning. It was the first knockdown of the champion’s career. It proved to be the difference as Glen Feldman scored the bout 114-113 for Thurman  while Tim Cheatham and Glen Feldman both had it 115-112 for boxing’s only eight-division world champion.

"I knew it was too close,” Thurman said. “He got the knockdown so he had momentum in round one.”

The Return of "One Time"

On February 5, 2022, Thurman ended a 931-day layoff against former super lightweight world champion Mario "El Azteca" Barrios at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The crossroads battle between ex-champions headlined a FOX Sports PBC pay-per-view. 

A loss might have signalled the end for Thurman. Instead, he proved he is still an elite welterweight, winning a 12-round unanimous decision over Barrios an excellent performance. 

“This was a comeback fight after two and a half years away,” saidThurman. “I wish I had my best performance, but I did the best I could under the circumstances. “I grade this performance a C+ or B- for myself.”
 
The 33-year-old Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) displayed the attributes that led him to the top of the 147-pound division. Thurman got off to a strong start and never relinquished control, at times punishing Barrios with hard shots.

“We rocked him. We weren’t able to put him down and out, but we had a great performance and a great fight,” said Thurman. “I want the belts. I want the champions. I want to be back on top, so whoever is willing to send Keith Thurman the contract, let’s go!”