Keith Thurman Full Post-Fight Reaction To Shocking The World In Comeback Knockout Win
03/12/2025 08:32 AM
Some said it couldn’t be done with his age and the layoff and travelling to Australia but he pulled it off.
Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman one more time came back against all the odds and proved his class at the highest level of boxing.
A class act and brutal knockout artist, still, is good old Keith Thurman. Respect to Brock Jarvis for stepping in there.
Knocking out Brock Jarvis inside of three rounds today a short time ago in Australia, here’s his full reaction with reporters in the post fight-media scrum a few minutes ago:
“It’s a victory after three years—you’re back, and it’s exactly what you planned. Bing, bang, boom—it’s the type of fight I’m putting on him, and he wouldn’t understand. At the end of the day, to do what I do and live this life, it’s been a 29-year journey. A lot of people wonder what Keith Thurman has, but Keith Thurman has the heart and the will of a champion—today, tomorrow, and forever.
Let’s talk through the fight. What did you think? In round one, he caught you with a shot in there. He did what he did—it was interesting. We touched gloves, and my mind was focused on execution, skill, and seeing what he’d bring to the table. I knew that was his strong suit—what he gave me in round one was what he wished he could do for ten rounds. But I wasn’t going to let the fight play out like that for ten rounds. I wanted to see what Brock really felt like. It was the animosity he had that gave me this idea. I didn’t fully lock in on that idea until we approached each other, touched gloves, and he was still acting like, “Oh, let’s see who really wants it now.” He was still pressing up on me out there. So I thought, “Alright, he’s got this much animosity pent up in him. He’s been waiting all week to finally do something. Let’s see what that is. Let’s see what that manifestation of all that pent-up frustration looks like in the physical world.” And where better than the physical ring in round one? I could feel his power, his strength, his inside approach, his looping shots, his inside gutters—I felt everything. He can’t do more than what he did in round one. All he can do is repeat that and maybe land cleaner shots. But I was keeping him smothered, letting him work.
Obviously, my coach didn’t like round one. He said, “Let’s not do that again. Get back on the stick, work the jab, work everything off the jab. He’s just standing there—you’ll be able to open him up off the jab.” I saw what my coach was talking about. I saw that flat-footed approach and thought, “Let’s take it nice and easy, do what Coach said, work off the jab, and see what opens up.” I did that in round two. He told me, “Pivot on the inside, don’t stay on the inside.” Every time Brock threw those looping shots, you saw him miss, and I’d be moving around. After I found that nice technicality in round three, we kept doing the same thing. Plus, in round two, I was landing a few body shots—mostly coming off the right hook I was setting up. I was trying to set up the right hook to distract him, to bring his glove down, so that later in the fight I could go with an overhand right looper. I was laying some groundwork and setting traps on that end. But in the third round, I came around on the left side—boom—got behind the elbow, and he gave me a wince. He gave me that “W,” and I said, “You didn’t like that, did you, bro?” I stepped forward, he stepped back, and I saw the mouth-breathing. These are little signs world champions need to recognize—he wasn’t in a good place right now. I continued to press, press, press, and he wasn’t strong on his back foot. He slowly started to crumble. As I kept putting pressure on him, I landed a beautiful left uppercut inside and dropped him. He was able to get up, but he was wobbly. I wasn’t sure if the ref was going to stop it there or not. The ref gave him one more chance, but there was way too much pressure and too much time left on the clock. I put the full press on him, foot on the gas, and now we’re out here talking to you—the fight’s over.
Were you surprised the ref let it continue after the first knockdown? A little bit, yeah. But he did get up. Back in the day—let’s talk boxing—back in the day, as long as they were up, the fight continued. This is a big production, you know. Yes, the ref could have stopped the fight, but if Brock had any chance of just getting out of the round and allowing the fight to continue on a big pay-per-view stage like this, there would’ve been more action, more entertainment to come. But obviously, I didn’t allow that to happen. I pressed the gas and closed out the show. As soon as I saw the ref about to say “box,” I said to myself, “Yeah, what are you going to do?” After a few seconds of thinking, “What are you going to do?” I realized now’s not the time to be the nice guy. It had nothing to do with the banter or the talk—it was all boxing. When you have an opponent weak on his feet, you’ve got to press and end the show. Unfortunately, I was given that opportunity, and I didn’t hesitate to do what we do as gladiators, as fighters, at a world-class level.
How important was that TikTok knockout? Ironically, it’s really just important to get back in the ring. It was important to make a statement. We had a lot of good hype—a lot of people were laughing all week. They loved the antics, the robot walk, the brick walk I did. It was the last moment I could tease them. When I first got in town, Brock was real stale—he was like a stale potato chip. He had nothing to say, nothing to do. But as I kept poking at him, somebody must’ve gotten in his ear and said, “Look, man, he’s in your city, your town. You can’t let this chump come in here and talk like that.” Whoever got in his ear, I’m grateful because it brought out a little flavor, a little sugar, a little spice from Brock. It made the whole week more entertaining. He was able to try to do something in round one, and it was a good fight. At the end of the fight, when I went over there, I told him, “I love you. I’ve never hated you. This is all business. Best of luck to you.”
How does your boxing IQ match up against, say, Tim Tszyu? Look, man, you’ve got to understand boxing. I was a seven-time national champion as an amateur fighter in America. I had probably 80 or 81 wins and 11 losses before I ever turned pro. I was the Olympic alternate, similar to Mike Tyson. If you know Mike Tyson’s amateur story, he lost in the Olympic trials finals and didn’t get to go to the Olympic Games. Similarly, I lost to a world-class fighter, Demetrius Andrade, in the finals of our USA Olympic trials. It was Andrade who went on to the 2008 China Games representing America. I’ve always been in the ring with some of the best. I never lost an international event as an amateur. I fought Canada and Ukraine—a really fun story for you guys: USA versus Ukraine. Ukraine brings their A-team, USA brings about a C-team, and everybody loses to Ukraine except for two fighters on the USA team. Want to know the names of those two fighters? Keith Thurman and Shawn “Showtime” Porter. The two fighters who beat Ukrainian fighters went on to become world champions. On the amateur stage, that tells you the class Ukraine brings. We know from past world champions—the Russians, the Ukrainians—they really learn boxing well, teach boxing well, and execute, sometimes dominantly, on the world stage. The fact that Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter were the only two Americans to win and went on to become world champions says something about Ukraine and what they produce in boxing. My history is long and deep, and that IQ is real. That’s why I was able to do what I wanted in round one—let him show me his strength and power—then in round two, slowly start to execute tactics, and in round three, pick my shots. It all ended up in my favor, and I closed the show.
What’s the motivation to fight Tim Tszyu? Why do you want to fight him? It’s for you, it’s for this country, and it’s a little bit for me. Last year, in 2024, I signed my contract and trained hard in preparation for Tszyu. But I tore my bicep tendon in the eleventh round of sparring while preparing for that fight. I walked away from big, big money in Las Vegas—the kind of money that makes you want to fight one-handed. At the end of the day, with my faith in the sport, my faith in myself, and my faith in God Almighty, I said, “The Lord is good. If one door closes, another door shall open.” Being here today is evidence of my spirit, my resolve to always stay true to myself, and to give you guys the best performance I can—not just to fight for the money, which is really hard to do at the top level. A lot of people want to fight for the money. I fight for the glory. I fight for the legacy. I fight because I’m a fighter. Every time Keith Thurman fights, you see the red, white, and blue because Keith Thurman is living out his all-American dream under these bright lights. So, at the end of the day, I’m open to any contract right now. Tim Tszyu isn’t finalized—it’s easy to say, easy to talk about. He’s obviously coming off two losses; he needs to get a win. I’m over here at Darling Harbour, staying at the W—it’s a big old “W”—and Tim Tszyu needs to go get his “W.” That’s very important. I can’t say without a doubt that if a great contract came to me from the U.S., I wouldn’t sign it and lose interest in Tszyu. But it was a lot of fun being here in Australia, performing under No Limit Boxing. They’re doing a fantastic job promoting boxing in Australia, and I know they’d love to see a fighter of my caliber continue to put on some of the best fights out of any promotional company here in the country. We can negotiate those things if a better offer doesn’t come to the table.“
Thurman is obviously sky high at the moment and he’s bloody right to be.
What a win.
Some as well mentioning American fighters and world champions never travel outside of America, he smashed that rubbish to pieces and bust it up into the trash can again today.
He went all the way to Australia after brutal body repair and dominated to get back on track.
Big respect to Australia and Fox Sports Australia today too in what is a big time ahead for boxing in the country and entire continent, and the entire sport, no less.
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