After 22 months out of the ring, Keith Thurman emerged victorious in the same venue where he had his last bout before succumbing to a multitude of injuries.
In the main event of a PBC on Fox card from the Barclays Center, Thurman successfully retained his WBA "Super" welterweight title with a majority decision against Josesito Lopez. One judge had the fight tied at 113-113 while the other two judges scored it 115-111 and 117-109 in favor of Thurman.
Thurman wasted no time in bringing the pressure onto Lopez, knocking him down in the second round with a big left hook. Thurman would then proceed to dominate the majority of the first half of the fight. Lopez battled back, starting in the seventh round when he landed a left hook on Thurman, hurting the champion and making way for Lopez to throw a flurry of shots halfway in the round.
.@keiththurmanjr shows no ring rust in RD2, sending @JosesitoLopez to the canvas with a left hook @PBConFOX. #ThurmanLopez pic.twitter.com/nTLZBjwXPn
— PBC (@premierboxing) January 27, 2019
.@JosesitoLopez takes over RD7 ---- #ThurmanLopez #PBConFOX pic.twitter.com/AtzH9KCaZd
— PBC (@premierboxing) January 27, 2019
Both fighters traded shots in the second half of the fight with Lopez finding more success compared to the first half. Thurman fought back as well and was still in control for the most part and outlanding Lopez. Lopez was able to withstand Thurman's best shots, but it wasn't enough to get the win on the cards.
Are you not entertained?! #ThurmanLopez #PBConFOX pic.twitter.com/kGngwiWdBB
— PBC (@premierboxing) January 27, 2019
It was Thurman's first fight since unifying the WBA and WBC titles against Danny Garcia in March 2017, which also took place at the Barclays Center. Thurman underwent right elbow surgery and was out of action for the remainder of 2017. The 30-year-old Thurman then injure his left hand in 2018 and did not fight that year either.
During that time away from the ring, Thurman vacated the WBC title, which was later won by Shawn Porter last September. In that span, Errol Spence Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford won the IBF, WBA "Regular" and WBO welterweight titles, respectively, making way for potential big fights down the road for Thurman. In a recent media call, Thurman told Fightful that he'd love a shot at Manny Pacquiao given that both fighters compete under the PBC banner.
