Keith Thurman fought with busted rib for Pacquiao fight

[Ruthless-RKO]

Light welterweight prospect Gary Antuanne Russell revealed in an interview taken before last Saturday’s mega fight that Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman had a busted rib before his fight against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Russell, 23, said in the interview with spam that Pacquiao likely knew about Thurman’s rib injury, and that he should focus on attacking that side of his body. Sure enough; that’s precisely what the 40-year-old Pacquiao did in attacking Thurman’s body with powerful shots.

Pacquiao hurt Thurman with a body shot to the ribs in the 10th round, which changed the tide of the fight. Thurman wasn’t the same after that round, and Pacquiao was able to cruise to a 12 round split decision win.

Russell says Thurman’s rib was busted

“He still has a busted rib,” said Russell about Thurman in an interview on spam that took place before last Saturday’s Pacquiao-Thurman fight. “For those who follow Keith Thurman’s career, they know he has a busted rib. I’m pretty sure his opponent [Pacquiao] knows he has a busted rib, and it would be a good thing to do to attack that side early on in the fight if it goes the distance.”

Russell predicted the fight with him talking about Pacquiao needing to attack the side of Thurman’s injured rib. It’s surprising that the injury didn’t turn up during a medical checkup. It makes you wonder how thorough the pre-fight medical exam was. Thurman walking into the ring with a busted rib is strange.

If what Russell says is true, why didn’t Thurman ask to have the Pacquiao fight postponed? Was it because Thurman didn’t want to disappoint the fans by having the fight postponed a month or two? Had Thurman been healthy, he might not have been hurt by that body shot in the 10th round, and he would have possibly dominated rounds 10, 11 and 12 to win the contest.

[greg]

There‘s always a story behind every loss.... the facts are: he signed a contract, got into the ring and lost fair and squire .... just damage control...

[Fightnight Scores]

There‘s always a story behind every loss.... the facts are: he signed a contract, got into the ring and lost fair and squire .... just damage control...

Opened this to post this exact thing!! There's ALWAYS a reason or excuse.

Very rare does anyone hold their hands up and say yeah I lost, the better man won!

[oogiebe]

Sick of all these excuses. If your rib is broken, why fight if you think it'll hurt your performance? Saw no signs of an injury during the fight. Sad, sad, sad.

[Ruthless-RKO]

There‘s always a story behind every loss.... the facts are: he signed a contract, got into the ring and lost fair and squire .... just damage control...

Opened this to post this exact thing!! There's ALWAYS a reason or excuse.

Very rare does anyone hold their hands up and say yeah I lost, the better man won!

It wasn't Thurman who came and out and called it an excuse. He has no excuses after the fight. He showed true sportsmanship.

Also.. it might be why he took that body shot hard in the later rounds.

Respect.

[margaret thatcher]

it didnt seem to me that manny really focused that much on the body like the article states. he did hurt cool qweef there late in the fight though

[squiggy]

So the theory here is that the injury made Thurman unusually vulnerable to body shots, and Pacquiao knew this, but refrained from taking advantage of it until the tenth round? Seems pretty generous of him, actually.

[Fightnight Scores]

Opened this to post this exact thing!! There's ALWAYS a reason or excuse.

Very rare does anyone hold their hands up and say yeah I lost, the better man won!

It wasn't Thurman who came and out and called it an excuse. He has no excuses after the fight. He showed true sportsmanship.

Also.. it might be why he took that body shot hard in the later rounds.

Respect.

I misread the initial post, and see it isn't direct from Thurman.

He was very graceful immediately after the fight. Said the better man won.

The article makes it sound like there's some well known fact Keith was delicate in the ribs though. Surely he would have been targetted more to the rib section if this was the case. Either was it was a vicious shot that Manny landed late on, would have hurt anyone.

[caldo2025]

There’s nothing worse than a losers excuse especially in Boxing for some reason. It never changes public opinion about the fight, it only makes the losing fighter look that much worse. So why can’t these idiots learn.

Btw, I’ve tried wrestling with a broken rib and it’s impossible. There’s no way KT had a legit broken rib and fought like that. It’s not humanly possibly with a legitimate broken rib. I saw him almost spit the mouthpiece out on that one shot to ribs but that looked to me like Manny broke it then and there. Bs

[Ruthless-RKO]

There’s nothing worse than a losers excuse especially in Boxing for some reason. It never changes public opinion about the fight, it only makes the losing fighter look that much worse. So why can’t these idiots learn.

Thurman didn’t say anything. He hasn’t made any excuses.

[caldo2025]

There’s nothing worse than a losers excuse especially in Boxing for some reason. It never changes public opinion about the fight, it only makes the losing fighter look that much worse. So why can’t these idiots learn.

Thurman didn’t say anything. He hasn’t made any excuses.

That rib comment was clearly planted. I’m sure that Thurman at least gave his consent to release information like that. It’s an effort to minimize damage from the loss. That’s my opinion. I’ve been and still are a THURMAN fan so I do hope that he continues to show the humility and class that he did inside ring after the fight. It was a great look for him and I think that fans really took to it. This guys been boo’d at every turn unfairly but hopefully he realizes what appeals to people and what doesn’t. So I hope I’m wrong.

[ironbeard]

I would not be surprised if FMJ set this sh!t up to fvck with Manny as revenge for Manny’s post FMJ loss claims that his shoulder was injured prior to the fight.

In both cases it does not matter. They both got in the ring to try to win.

In Thurman’s case it could be a good rationale for a rematch in 2020.

[margaret thatcher]

this doesnt really get back at pac, more like thurman takes a bit of a hit if anything because ppl dont pay attention and think hes claiming this and just making excuses

[ironbeard]

this doesnt really get back at pac, more like thurman takes a bit of a hit if anything because ppl dont pay attention and think hes claiming this and just making excuses

Doesn’t mean a damned thing to me. If true though, it will definitely tarnish the greatness of the win with some, as Pac’s claim did for some on the FMJ W.

[candyslim]

I think you're both right. Some will dismiss this as lame excuses and think badly of Thurman because of it. Others will regard it as legit and use that to play down Manny's win.

It all depends on the way the individual thinks who is processing this information, and their disposition toward each of the fighters involved. Me, I just wish there were no mitigating circumstances to complicate what I would like to be a straightforward win for the better man on the night.

On the other hand if this controversy leads to a rematch you won't hear me whining about that

[Evander]

Not seen the fight in it's entirety so I don't know.

Busted rib ... This is the pro's man ... don't come with frivolous excuses your ready or your not.

[greg]

Correct me if I‘m wrong, but aren‘t the boxers sign some sort of papers confirming they are physically and otherwise fit prior to a fight?

[gilgamesh]

Excuses...the only good one is to not give one. Just accept the situation, and move on.

[Evander]

I was in NYC when Margarito's eye busted up against Cotto early.

Wasn't Sergio Martinez's leg jacked up from almost the first round against Miguel Cotto ?
The severity of Thurman's injuries pales in comparison.

[gilgamesh]

I was in NYC when Margarito's eye busted up against Cotto early.

Wasn't Sergio Martinez's leg jacked up from almost the first round against Miguel Cotto ?
The severity of Thurman's injuries pales in comparison.

Martinez never made an excuse about his leg either. Even though it was obvious.

[Evander]

I was in NYC when Margarito's eye busted up against Cotto early.

Wasn't Sergio Martinez's leg jacked up from almost the first round against Miguel Cotto ?
The severity of Thurman's injuries pales in comparison.

Martinez never made an excuse about his leg either. Even though it was obvious.

Right from the opening couple of rounds.