The pictures, as they tend to do, told a thousand words.
As he sat on his stool before the 12th round, Manny Pacquiao looked like a spent force.
His right eye was swollen. His left eye was bleeding.
And as much or more than those two factors, he looked like an old, tired fighter.
Even as his corner team tried to coax him. Even as the crowd at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas tried to inspire him. Even as he knew what the scorecards were probably about to tell him.
There was nothing left to give.
At least not the level to which he's accustomed.
Faced with the imposing blend of his own limitations and a talented, motivated, short-notice foe across the ring, the Filipino's 42-year-old best wasn't nearly good enough to hold serve as he dropped a narrow, but hard-to-dispute decision to Yordenis Ugas on Saturday (115-113, 116-112, 116-112).
No one who'd watched the entire 36 minutes seemed to have any real contrarian argument.
Not the broadcast team comprised of fighters, trainers and talking heads. Not the majority of the hyper-partisan pro-Pacquiao fans. And not Pacquiao himself, who instinctively raised his hands at the final bell but seemed resigned to the inevitable long before Jimmy Lennon Jr. made it official.
"I'm so thankful to the fans. I'm sorry that we lost tonight, but I did my best," he said, as a respectful Ugas sneaked in for a quick post-fight hug. "That's boxing, and I congratulate my opponent for winning."
Officially, the result legitimized the 35-year-old Cuban's claim on the welterweight title belt he'd been gifted earlier this year when the WBA stripped Pacquiao for inactivity during a global pandemic.
It certainly put Ugas front and center when it comes to calling for opportunities against fellow 147-pound champions Errol Spence Jr.—whose eye injury opened the door for him less than two weeks prior to Saturday—and Terence Crawford, who's reigned since 2018 following previous titles at 135 and 140.
The real takeaway, though, was what it meant for Pacquiao.
Which, for all intents and purposes, really ought to be the end of the line, but not because he embarrassed himself against Ugas.
In fact, given fates often suffered by veteran fighters anywhere close to his age, Pacquiao was a competitive anomaly. He threw more than twice as many punches as his foe (815 to 405), never appeared badly hurt or significantly buzzed and was still consistently pressing forward in the final round.
The fact that it came against a guy who'd won 11 of his last 12 fights—losing only on a split decision to a then-reigning Shawn Porter—and was a legit top-five operator in the division, even more so.
Lest anyone forget, Ray Leonard never won a fight past age 33. Mike Tyson was 0-2 past 36. Muhammad Ali lost to fighters at 38 and 39 who'd have barely laced his boots a decade earlier.
So to say Pacquiao ought to leave because of work quality is foolish.
He was ranked third in the division going in and is still a top-10 talent going out, which means he'd be an odds-on favorite against far more fighters than not.
Still, given the recurring give and take from end to end against Ugas—which saw Pacquiao busy and intermittently effective early before evolving into more catcher than pitcher in the second half—there seems little reason to believe that another six months would translate to success on the highest level.
So why bother?
He complained in the aftermath of tight legs, a familiar issue that won't get any better with age.
His face was reddened and swollen from the first few rounds on, a sure sign of balky punch resistance.
And his lack of welterweight pop—exactly one win by KO since 2009—doesn't provide a game-changing threat to fall back on when all else is failing, as it was Saturday.
Oh, and let's not forget, the guy has other options.
He's a wildly popular politician in the Philippines and has long been considering a run at the country's presidency, a decision he said he'd make for certain by next month. Even if he remains content with his current post as a senator, it's not as if cutting weight and getting punched in the mouth is a must-do.
While he didn't officially show his cards, his words and expressions seemed to lean that way.
"I don't know. Let me relax and make a decision," he said when asked directly if he'd return to the ring. "We're facing difficult problems in more important worlds than boxing.
"I hope that in my more than 20 years I gave you enjoyment."
Well, Manny, let's put it this way:
After 26 years, 25 title fights and 10 alphabet title reigns across seven weight classes, anyone who wasn't entertained wasn't paying attention. And anyone who argues otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about.
"I don't know what's left for him to reach," Fox analyst Joe Goossen said. "I think the man should enjoy the rest of his life outside the gym. Give the guy a break [and] let him go live a normal life."
WBA super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis is facing 14 charges stemming from an alleged hit-and-run in November, according to CBS Baltimore's Rachel Menitoff.
According to court documents, a red light camera showed a 2020 Lamborghini Uris driving through the light and striking a 2004 Toyota Solara on Nov. 5.
Four people were inside the Solara and transported to a local hospital for what State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby described as "recoverable injuries."
Davis is believed to have been driving the Lamborghini at the time of the crash. Security footage from a convenience store also showed the Lamborghini driving into the store's fence.
Per eyewitnesses and video, people moved items from the Lamborghini to a Camaro that arrived at the scene. Davis and a woman then allegedly left in the Camaro.
Among the charges Davis faces are four counts of failure to immediately return and remain at scene of accident involving bodily injury, driving motor vehicle on highway on suspended license and privilege, and driving motor vehicle on highway on revoked license and privilege.
Davis could face up to seven years and 55 days in prison if he's convicted on all 14 charges.
The crash occurred less than a week after Davis' most recent fight, a sixth-round knockout of Leo Santa Cruz on Oct. 31 to improve his record to 24-0.
Vasiliy Lomachenko underwent shoulder surgery Monday after his recent loss Teofimo Lopez, the boxer's manager Egis Klimas told Steve Kim of ESPN.
Lomachenko had previously dealt with pain in his shoulder at least six weeks before Saturday's fight and then suffered an injury to the spot in the second round of the eventual loss. The 32-year-old fought well in the second half of the fight, but Lopez came away with the win by unanimous decision, securing the WBC, WBO and WBA titles in the process.
Even with the loss marking Lomachenko's first defeat since 2014, his camp doesn't want to blame the injury.
"We didn't want to look like we were looking for excuses or something," Klimas said.
Still, he received two injections for the pain over the past two months and his father, Anatoly, wanted the fighter to drop out of the fight.
Klimas said the surgery will keep him out until at least mid-January when he can resume training.
When healthy, Lomachenko remains one of the biggest stars in the sport. He had been No. 1 in ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings earlier in the year while even after his latest loss, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports rated him as the No. 5 fighter in the world.
The time off for rehab could provide time to evaluate his next move, whether that will be a rematch with Lopez or changing weight classes or something else.
Keith Thurman has never lost. Manny Pacquiao has won a championship in eight divisions, something no other boxer has done. On Saturday, the two welterweights will step into the ring together for the first time for the WBA "super" welterweight title.
It's shaping up to be a great fight as Pacquiao, the WBA "regular" welterweight champion, will look to take the WBA "super" welterweight championship from Thurman, whose 29 career victories include 22 by knockout. The fight will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Both fighters have something to prove. Thurman is looking to show he has shaken off the ring rust evident in January's fight against Josesito Lopez, his first in nearly two years because of injury. Pacquiao will aim to show he can still win big matches at 40.
Here's everything you need to know heading into Saturday's fight, as well as a prediction about which fighter will take home the title.
Fight Info
When: Saturday, 20 July, 9 p.m. ET
Where: MGM Grand in Las Vegas
TV: Fox Sports Pay-Per-View ($74.99)
Live Stream: Fox Sports Pay-Per-View
Odds (via Caesars): Pacquiao -160 (bet $160 to win $100) vs. Thurman +140 (bet $100 to win $140)
Preview, Prediction
Pacquiao may have had more success between the two fighters, but he may also have more to prove entering this fight. As a veteran, he has to show that he can still cut it between the ropes against opponents in their primes.
"People are doubting my capability at the age of 40," Pacquiao said, according to the New York Post's George Willis. "I have to prove something at this time."
This should be a great challenge for Pacquiao, as Thurman is 10 years younger and has a two-inch reach advantage. However, the "super" welterweight titleholder will be fighting for only the second time since he missed nearly two years because of injury. In his only fight since returning, Thurman defeated Lopez by majority decision on Jan. 26.
Thurman isn't taking the opportunity to fight one of the sport's all-time greats for granted. His only goal entering this match is to continue his undefeated streak.
"This is an amazing opportunity to fight Manny Pacquiao," Thurman said, per Willis. "It's as if I'm fighting Sugar Ray Robinson or Roberto Duran. This is Manny Pacquiao. It's a tremendous feeling and it's going to feel even better when my hand is raised."
Pacquiao and Thurman are likely to go the distance in this fight; Thurman hasn't knocked out an opponent since 2013, and Pacquiao has lost four of his past 12 fights, winning only one by knockout over that stretch.
While Thurman won't be able to knock out Pacquiao, his undefeated streak won't be coming to an end. He will get the best of the 12-time champ, outlasting the veteran in a fight that won't be decided until the final rounds, when his youth and athleticism prove to be the difference.
Pick: Thurman wins via unanimous decision.
Champion vs. champion. One of boxing's all-time greats vs. an undefeated fighter. A battle for welterweight supremacy.
On Saturday, Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman will go head-to-head in a match that lives up to the excitement and anticipation leading up to the event.
Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 knockouts, WBA "regular" welterweight champion) will look to win the WBA "super" welterweight title from Thurman (29-0-1, 22 knockouts).
But before these two boxers face off, they will meet at Friday's weigh-in, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Then there will be nothing left for these champions to do besides take part in Saturday's 12-round bout.
Here's the latest information heading into the fight.
Fight Info
When: Saturday, 20 July, 9 p.m. ET
Where: MGM Grand in Las Vegas
TV: Fox Sports Pay-Per-View ($74.99)
Live Stream: Fox Sports Pay-Per-View
Preview
Thurman hasn't shied away from his intentions for this fight since he arrived in Las Vegas.
"This goal has been in motion for 23 years," he said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Sam Gordon. "I want somebody to show the world that Pacquiao is not that dude anymore."
That could be easier said than done for Thurman, even if it appears he may have some advantages over the Filipino.
Thurman has had only one match since returning from a near-two-year injury layoff. He defeated Josesito Lopez by majority decision on Jan. 26, his first fight since March 4, 2017. But he doesn't see his lack of action over the past two-plus years as a disadvantage.
"All athletes get injured and battle to come back," he said, according to the Los Angeles Times' Norm Frauenheim. "Baseball, football. It's part of it. Tiger Woods, look at what happened to him. He was out, he was gone and everybody wondered if he'd come back. He did. But this ain't golf."
Pacquiao will be one of the toughest challengers Thurman has faced in his career. The 40-year-old has been a world champion in eight divisions, winning 12 major world titles.
It will also be a challenge for the veteran, as Thurman is 10 years younger and has a two-inch reach advantage.
"At 40, this fight is one of the most important fights of my career," Pacquiao said, per Gordon. "I want to prove something. My opponent, he's very good at talking."
Pacquiao is coming off a 12-round victory over Adrien Broner on Jan. 19, which he won by unanimous decision. While eight of his past nine fights have gone the distance, he's shown he can still win and may have plenty more in the tank before he decides to retire from the sport.
If Thurman wins, it will cement him as one of boxing's top fighters; if Pacquiao wins, it will be another great chapter in a legendary career. Either way, this fight between two of the best welterweights in the world should deliver some great boxing.
Amir Khan has announced his next fight will be against Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat on July 12, less than three months after he suffered a TKO stoppage to Terence Crawford.
Khan (33-5), a British boxer and Olympic silver medallist of Pakistani descent, will fight Goyat at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 32-year-old spoke of sport's healing powers ahead of a bout between fighters whose countries have historically shared a great rivalry, per ESPN.com's Dan Rafael:
"This is an exciting challenge that I have ahead of me. It will be the first time a British Pakistani will fight an Indian boxer, which eventually will bring the two nations together. I would like to thank the Saudi government and General Sports Authority for giving me this opportunity, and I'm a firm believer in sport being a great healer."
Per Rafael's report, Goyat's regional welterweight belt will be put on the line. There was speculation the fixture could be an exhibition, and boxing writer Michael Benson highlighted that could still be the case:
Goyat (11-3-2) has a history in mixed martial arts as well as boxing, and he also appeared on the second season of Netflix show "Ultimate Beastmaster."
MailOnline's Jordan Seward wrote that Khan stands to make £7 million from the fight being held in Saudi Arabia.
The bout has earned Khan comparisons to Floyd Mayweather, who made big money from facing Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition in Saitama, Japan, in December.
Sports presenter Adam Catterall was in awe of such a lucrative opportunity for the British boxer:
Khan crumbled against Crawford when the pair clashed for the WBO welterweight title in April. His corner threw in the towel after failing to recover from an accidental low blow in the sixth, but Khan was being decisively beaten at the time and encountered criticism that he quit.
His trainer, Virgil Hunter, recently spoke to iFL TV and said he still believed Khan was genuinely hurt when he threw in the towel, a decision he stood by:
A July matchup opposite Goyat could at least restore Khan's confidence and get him back to winning ways. It means he could also win a belt for the first time since he held the WBC Silver crown four years ago.
Khan has lost two of his last four fights—each of which have come via stoppage—but a lucrative encounter against Goyat at King Abdullah Sports City will tempt him back to the ring on July 12.
Leo Santa Cruz successfully defended his WBA featherweight world title on Saturday, as he defeated Rafael Rivera via unanimous decision at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
All three judges scored the bout 119-109 in favor of Santa Cruz. Per the Fox broadcast, Santa Cruz threw 1,273 punches and landed 334 of them. Rivera threw 805 and landed 161.
Santa Cruz was initially scheduled to face Miguel Flores, but the challenger suffered an ankle injury during training camp. Rivera took his place on January 24.
The 30-year-old Cruz improved to 36-1-1 (19 knockouts), with his lone loss coming against Carl Frampton in a featherweight title bout in July 2016. Cruz beat Frampton in a January 2017 rematch and has since defended his belt three straight times.
Rivera fell to 26-3-2. He put up a good fight and unleashed a fury of punches at a couple of points, notably in the ninth and 12th rounds. Dan Rafael of ESPN lauded him for a "great effort."
However, Santa Cruz was clearly the best boxer on this night. He defended the belt in his hometown and told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times in November 2018 that he was looking for two more fights in 2019: a trilogy match against Frampton and a title unification bout versus WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr.
Santa Cruz also said in a post-match interview on Fox that he's looking to fight again in "June or July" and that he wants to fight three times total this calendar year. He also reiterated interest in meeting Russell.
Russell, 30, has successfully defended the WBC featherweight belt four times, most recently versus Joseph Diaz on May 19.
The 31-year-old Frampton, who sports a 26-2 record, is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Josh Warrington.
Actor Chad L. Coleman had recently been cast for HBO's acclaimed series The Wire when the show's brain trust advised him to meet with Calvin Ford. Though the show's co-creators, David Simon and Ed Burns, have said there was no one-to-one ratio for characters in the show and the figures they were partially sourced from, Coleman would come to find out that Ford and the character he would portray in the show's third season, Dennis "Cutty" Wise, shared a lot in common.
After Coleman made his way to Upton Boxing Center on West Baltimore's Pennsylvania Avenue to meet Ford, he began to understand what made Ford so intriguing a character to emulate.
"I'm always inspired by people who are able to move from one position to another," Coleman said. "Most people find it very difficult to change."
Ford, a trainer at Upton, had not undergone so much a change as a drastic transformation, one that took him from being a soldier in Baltimore's drug trade to a mentor for kids in that same city.
"What I got was a beautiful heart, a man who found himself, who went down the wrong path, recognized his wrong, but also recognized a strength in himself from being able to do that," Coleman said. "The dirt he did, he saw his talents in it, so he knew if he shifted it to the good, he'd bring it to a different circumstance and make it positive."
One meeting turned into several, and as Coleman kept returning to the gym, he noticed a kid, just a tiny ball of energy, really, bouncing around the center's walls.
"Tank was the little boy phenom that [Ford] was worried about whether he was going to lose him to the streets or not," Coleman said. "You could tell he had it. He was just a little dude whaling away."
He never stopped whaling.
On Saturday, nearing a couple of decades after Coleman first noticed him, Gervonta "Tank" Davis will defend his World Boxing Association super featherweight title against 30-year-old Hugo Ruiz in his first headline fight on Showtime's Premier Boxing Champions card at California's Dignity Health Sports Park. And Ford will be in his corner as his trainer.
Davis, a 24-year-old southpaw, is 20-0 with 19 knockouts. While the bout was to have been against Abner Mares, a former three-division titleholder, Mares was forced to bail on the fight when he suffered a detached retina in training. Ruiz, a former junior featherweight world champion, was then tabbed to step in.
For Davis, the fight will be his first since last April, a third-round knockout of Jesus Cuellar.
"I believe I have the total package inside the ring and outside the ring," Davis said of becoming boxing's next star.
Lexington Terrace is a housing project in West Baltimore that inspired The Wire's Franklin Terrace complex. It was also the boyhood home of Calvin Ford. Growing up, he fell into the world that greeted him—one centered on drugs and crime.
Ford became a lieutenant for drug kingpin Warren Boardley. In 1988, he went to federal prison, convicted on racketeering and conspiracy charges.
During his decade-long prison tenure, Ford baked and boxed. He learned that he had a natural talent for crafting sweets—a skill that eventually landed him a job, once he had been released, in the Phillips Seafood commissary. Another member in his crew, Reggie Gross, was imprisoned for three murders. Gross had boxed professionally, most notably suffering a one-round knockout loss to Mike Tyson. Ford kickboxed in his younger days, which prompted Gross to encourage Ford to become a boxer upon his release.
Ford figured that he was too old to box, but not too old to pass on his knowledge.
So he busied himself after his release and refused the lure to re-enter his prior life. In prison, he noticed people often left only to return behind bars. They did the same thing, repeated the same patterns.
He wanted something different.
At Herring Run Recreation Center, Ford started training his son, Quaadir Gurley. The gym moved to Pennsylvania Avenue and was renamed the Upton Boxing Center.
"Next thing I know, I didn't look back," Ford said. "Just where I'm at now, doing what I'm doing."
He found a disconnect between the neighborhood he grew up in and the one he returned to.
"We took care of our neighborhood," Ford, now 53, said. "We understood the kids, looked out for the kids, the people in the neighborhood. We had to take care of our own. Today, there's just no guidance for some of them."
He is trying to provide it. Kids, Ford found, can sense honesty, so he was straight with them, telling them what awaited them outside the gym versus what they could find inside.
"The streets are like a habit," Ford said. "It's like a drug. You're used to a certain lifestyle. Then I had a kid that believed in what I was doing, in what I was telling him. I couldn't go left, because if something happened to me, it's like I didn't care about them."
His transformation drew the attention of Burns, a former Baltimore police detective. "It was just a great opportunity to help out with that show because the show would show what was going on in the city," Ford said.
On The Wire, Ford's loosely inspired alter ego, "Cutty" Wise, is played by Coleman. Wise is a widely respected street soldier recently released from prison. He finds the streets that he returns to changed for the worse thanks to a generation of kids more reckless and heartless than when he grew up there. He opens a boxing center to train children in an effort to keep them from drugs and crime.
(Warning: Video includes NSFW language.)
"I'm one of them kids from the streets," Ford said. "I believe that you have more structured programs in place to help them through all the trauma stuff that they're going through, you'll have better citizens in the world, in the city of Baltimore. You give it a different type of hope."
Davis began his fighting career young. He was five when his uncles James Walker and Edwin Hanks brought him into the Upton gym after catching him brawling in the street.
Davis' parents were in and out of jail at that time, forcing him to spend time in a group home. Upton became a place to vent, where Davis found stability in an erratic world. It wasn't long before Gurley nudged his father into checking out one of Davis' sessions, initiating a partnership that continues today.
"He's a big part of my career, and we came up together in the boxing ring," Davis said of Ford.
Sometimes, Davis beat Ford to the gym.
"When I left the gym, he was leaving with me," Ford said. "He worked hard. He was interested in it for the age that he was at. When he got in the ring, he just turned into a whole different person. He really enjoyed what he was doing. We had other kids that were coming up in front of him; he wanted to be on that same level that they was on."
Davis is one of the success stories. But Upton has also suffered its share of tragedies. Angelo Ward, a super featherweight, was killed in 2012. Ronald "Rock" Gibbs, a talented amateur with Olympic hopes, was stabbed to death at the age of 17. Gurley was shot and killed in New Jersey in 2013 at the age of 24.
Even with their deaths, Ford feels the gym is a benefit to those who train there.
"We have a lot of kids that we lost, incarceration, death," Ford said. "They wasn't going to be fighters, but this made an impact on their life."
Davis, the reigning WBA super featherweight champion, has been influenced as well. Still, there have been challenges along the way. A failure to make weight for a defense of his IBF super featherweight title led Davis to be stripped of his belt before a bout scheduled for the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight in August 2017. There was the disorderly conduct charge he faced after being arrested last fall for an alleged street fight outside a bar in Washington, D.C. And then there's his unfiltered use of Twitter, where he spars with other fighters and recently discussed his strained relationship with Mayweather.
"[W]hen you're young and when you're his age, there's a lot of distractions that come your way, especially when you have these long layoffs, parties and getting distracted and a lot of other ways that your fame can catch up to you," Showtime Sports boxing analyst Paulie Malignaggi said. "Obviously, we know the talent of Gervonta Davis, but I want to see the focus. And the way I see him, he does seem focused and more with his eye on the prize."
Ford sees a pupil still learning and growing, one who is taking earnest steps toward stardom. "He understands that he's got a lot of people depending on him, the city depending on him," Ford said. "He wants to make a difference. He keeps striving to be the best that he can be."
He expects a good showing come Saturday. Davis, though, is keeping him guessing.
"Tank is like Michael Jordan," Ford said. "I'm waiting to see what type of performance he's going to put together for us. You wonder what's next. He's got something planned. He don't tell us everything, but he's got something planned. When we ask him, he starts smiling. He's got that little smirk. So, we're looking forward to it."
Jonathan Abrams is a senior writer for B/R Mag. A former staff writer at Grantland and sports reporter at the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Abrams is also the best-selling author of All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire—available right here, right now. Follow him on Twitter: @jpdabrams.
After nearly two years out of the ring, Keith "One Time" Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) made a winning return to boxing Saturday night, defeating an impressive Josesito Lopez (36-8-0, 19 KOs) via majority decision at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Dan Rafael of ESPN showed the cards as 113-113, 115-111, 117-109 in Thurman's favor.
Thurman had plenty of opportunities to show off the skill that has made him the WBA super world welterweight champion, but he also showed several moments of weakness in what was supposed to be a tuneup fight. A disastrous seventh round nearly saw him hit the canvas, and he had trouble dealing with the constant pressure from the 34-year-old Lopez, who proved he is still a tough, dangerous boxer.
At the start, Thurman hardly looked like a fighter who had been out of the ring that long. He mixed punches well, pawing with the jab to set up power punches to the head and body. Lopez was game, staying on the front foot, but he lacked creativity. A right hand to the abdomen was another constant source of success for Thurman.
NYFights.com's Michael Woods felt Thurman was making a point of using a variety of punches:
It didn't take long for Thurman's power to shine. A counter left hook late in the second round landed flush on Lopez's chin and sent the challenger to the canvas. Thurman pressed him as soon as he got up, but the bell saved Lopez from a second-frame exit.
Here's the knockdown, via Fox Sports PBC:
To Lopez's credit, he didn't shy away after getting knocked down. A flurry in the fourth got Thurman off balance, but the champion responded with a couple of textbook uppercuts that blunted the attack and gave him time to steady his legs.
RingTV.com's Douglass Fischer praised Lopez's toughness:
Thurman's entire arsenal was on display, and for the most part, it worked. He doubled and tripled up on the jab to take Lopez's attention away and then dug into the body with slicing uppercuts. By the middle rounds, Lopez's face was a red, mottled mess. And yet, the underdog kept biting.
Lopez's relentless pursuit paid off in the seventh frame. A left hook early on wobbled Thurman, putting the favorite in survival mode for nearly two full minutes. Lopez's lancing shots kept landing, and it took everything Thurman had to dance out of the way and reach the bell.
Take a look, via Fox Sports PBC:
Welterweight champion Terence Crawford knew those punches were hurting Thurman:
That round ended what had been a glorified exhibition up to that point. Lopez never quite got as close to stopping Thurman as he did in the seventh, but he stayed on him like a magnet and landed his fair share of combinations. Thurman looked less and less comfortable fighting off his back foot, but his legs were alive enough to keep him at the edge of his opponent's range while still allowing him to pop off the jab.
Thurman has his sights set on superstardom, but he is going to face some challenges. Lopez showed that fighters, at least ones with solid chins, can attack Thurman.
A little more stamina and variety in attack, and Lopez might've stolen this fight. Thurman survived, but his next opponent will know that he is not invincible.
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