Keith "One Time" Thurman may not have knocked out Leonard Bundu, but the budding star did what he had to do against the crafty veteran.
Keith Thurman remains undefeated and is looking to make noise in 2015. Photo: Getty Images
Hard-hitting Keith Thurman didn’t make good on his promise to knock out Leonard Bundu in Las Vegas on December 13, but he did take out the previously unbeaten Italian champion with a dominating 12-round performance that showed he is more than just a puncher.
“This is the sport of boxing. I pick how I want to fight," said Thurman, who was returning from a lengthy layoff because of a shoulder injury.
"I felt rusty from being off for eight months. I decided to keep boxing and not go for the knockout. It was really good for me to hang in there and get the 12 rounds of experience.
"(Bundu) was hard to fight. He's a live veteran. I learned that I need to work on being able to go after a knockout and not just sit back and counter."
While Thurman’s inability to stop Bundu early left some boxing fans unimpressed with the 26-year-old contender’s bold talk prior to the bout, the Florida native envisions only bigger and better fights in his future.
“I want to do this for six more years, maybe 10 more, and there are other fights other than [Floyd] Mayweather and [Manny] Pacquiao," Thurman told Yahoo! Sports prior to his fight with Bundu.
"I would love to fight those guys, but there are other fighters and there is going to be someone who rises up and becomes a big star. It happens all the time in boxing.
“One star goes and another star is made, and that's how we always have the big fights.”
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