As the boxing world awaits September 14th, when pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. is set to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, and 140-lb. champions Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse prepare for war, they will have a lot to live up to.
This past weekend, a card headlined by welterweights Andre Berto and Jesus Soto Karass set the sport ablaze. The triple-header featured an up-and-coming welterweight who established himself as a contender, a fight of the year candidate, and a battle between two known commodities fighting to keep their relevance.
First up was Keith "One-Time" Thurman, a 24-year-old knockout artist who faced his stiffest challenge yet, a fellow hard-hitting and unbeaten fighter named Diego Chaves. Thurman fought tooth and nail with Chaves, who socked him many times and drew blood from Thurman's nose. Thurman was hurt several times, a first for "One-Time," before he changed the fight with a body blow in the ninth round that dropped Chaves.
In the 10th round Thurman's power proved too great, as he scored a knockout win and announced himself ready for the bright lights. Following his win, Thurman had a laughable slip of the tongue in which he thanked San Diego for its support. Thurman was actually in San Antonio.
In the next fight Omar Figueroa Jr. and Nihito Arakawa engaged in what was likely the fight of 2013. Figueroa Jr. pounded away on Arakawa for 12 rounds badly knotting up both of his eyes and landing 51 percent of his punches overall. The unanimous decision for Figueroa was lopsided on the cards, which did not capture the bravery Arakawa showed in not only withstanding the onslaught, but by fighting back and unleashing more than 1,000 punches.
In the main event, Andre Berto, who had lost two of his last three fights and switched trainers looked to climb back into the title picture by knocking off Jesus Soto Karass, who was likely done forever as a title contender if he lost. Berto was the star attraction, but over the course of 12 rounds was bludgeoned by the hungry Soto Karass, who eventually knocked him out.
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