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| Someone has reason to celebrate |
Modern boxing is strange in that it seems to finally be moving on from an era of easy fights and easy money. Indeed, I felt in 2016 that the sport might truly be dying in that it appeared on it's way to becoming a one-off. In other words, I suspected professional boxing was on the road to dissolving into something similar to a series of small time wrestling leagues which operated only randomly. Scary thought, I know - but not an unreasonable one at the time, I'd argue. Fortunately, 2017 knocked those fears away with the fury of a Shavers' shot.
Make no mistake about it, this has been a massive year for the sweet science. Never mind Floyd and Conor. GGG faced Canelo, Ward and Kovalev met again, AJ dethroned the old Lion, Klitschko, Loma dominated Rigo, ESPN got seriously into the boxing business and there were more good matchups than you could shake an eight ounce glove at. Still, though, there's residual effects from the era that was. And one of those effects is fighters who don't fight a whole lot. Keith Thurman definitely fits that bill. Still, he's earned the #7 spot on this year's list due to the fact that he bested the undefeated Danny Garcia and, after getting injured, appears to plan on making a solid return in 2018.
Now, although many people felt Garcia was over-rated and pampered when he faced Thurman (Garcia was most certainly a child of the easy fight/easy money era), he was still a quality boxer who was a challenge for anyone (just ask Amir Khan and Lucas Matthysse). By beating his fellow undefeated welterweight, Thurman started bringing order to a post-Floyd welterweight division, just as he had in previous years by besting Robert Guerrero and Shawn Porter (though, honestly, I think Porter may have won that one). So long as he continues to challenge himself, and to look impressive doing so, Thurman may continue to remain a top ten pound-for-pound fighter for quite some time.
Just how interested is he in the fight game these days, however?
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