Manny Pacquiao is gearing up for a November clash with Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios in Macau China, but many boxing fans are already trying to figure out what will be next for Pacman.
If he wins against Rios, the most likely match to make is a rematch with Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley, who just finished beating Juan Manuel Marquez. Bradley has seemed open to a rematch with Pacquiao, and scoring a win over him would be a major boost to his career.
Bradley thought he'd be launched to stardom after earning a win over Pacquiao in 2012, only the backlash against the decision nearly ruined "Desert Storm." Now, he's won a slugfest with sudden star Ruslan Provodnikov, and outboxed a legendary counter puncher in Marquez. After beating "Dinamita" Bradley said, "I gotta be considered top three in the world now. There's Mayweather, there's Andre Ward and there's Tim Bradley, baby!"
However, much like Pacquiao believes a spectacular knockout of Rios can shoot him back into boxing's stratosphere, there's a budding welterweight who thinks a stunning knockout of Jesus Soto Karass can do the same for him--Keith "One Time" Thurman.
In an interview with Elie Seckbach, Thurman rattled off a list of names he was willing to fight that included Paulie Malignaggi, Devon Alexander, Bradley and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
When asked about Pacquiao, Thurman looked disappointed that a fight was impossible to make due to a promotional war being waged between Top Rank's Bob Arum and Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer.
He did however claim he'd knock Pacquiao out if given the fight, and criticized his style. "Oh that's a great fight," Thurman said of fighting Pacman. "I would knock him out man. I would lay him out just like Marquez did."
Thurman believes Pacquiao's volume punching style would allow him to land a knockout punch. "Pacquiao is vulnerable for the KO because he throws too many punches. You can throw too many punches. You need to throw, and you need to land accurately. If you're not landing, what are you still throwing for?"
Perhaps Thurman's fighting words will instigate a match made in heaven for fans of firefights? Thurman's next bout will be against Soto Karass on December 14th, on the undercard of Adrien Broner vs. Marcos Maidana.
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