BoxRec

what happens?

techniquly they seem equal, maybe slight edge for thurman
power, equal
chin, well i have never seen thurman or spence getting hit with a big time punch, judging from the neck muscle id clearly favour thurman
athleticsm, nobody is more athletic than spence at 147, he is a rare physical specimen

i'd favour thurman. chin and experience are very important and physicly and powerwise they equal so factors like chin, experience, balance will bring the win. thurman by ud

Technically they are definitely NOT equal. Thurman doesn't even jab much in his fights. Throws wide punches also and has some questionable balance issues. Spence wins pretty comfortably.

Good match-up. Not sure who to pick. Thurman is obviously more proven at the pro level. But, Spence has shown solid skills.

I don’t think I’ll be in a position to draw a comparison between Spence Jr. and Thurman until I’ve seen the Kell Brook fight. And even then, Spence Jr. maybe facing a “weakened” version of the Brit, due to a combination of Kell’s new-found wealth, having to make 147lbs (when he previously fought at 160lbs) and perhaps sufferering from a “damaged” mental state after being beaten up so comprehensively by GGG.

The only common opponents that Spence Jr. and Thurman have, are Leonard Bundu & Brandon Hoskins. And Keith fought much better versions of both men.

Also, it could be argued that (at the time “One Time” fought them), the likes of Jesus Soto Karass, Leonard Bundu, Robert Guerrero, Shawn Porter & Danny Garcia were all far more impressive victories on Thurman’s resume than Spence Jr’s best opponent, which is Chris Algieri.

In my mind, Errol Spence Jr. is a bit of an unknown quantity, since it’s far easier looking super-impressive against second-tier opposition than it is to dominate the very best fighters in the division in equally impressive fashion.

I’m not trying to undermine Errol Spence Jr, it’s just that I can’t support the notion that he’s the very best 147lb-er on the planet without requiring the need for validation, because he has simply not faced any top-quality opposition.

Spence wins, Errol is the only fighter I know of that Thurman has turned down a fight with.

Jip wrote:what happens?

techniquly they seem equal, maybe slight edge for thurman
power, equal
chin, well i have never seen thurman or spence getting hit with a big time punch, judging from the neck muscle id clearly favour thurman
athleticsm, nobody is more athletic than spence at 147, he is a rare physical specimen

i'd favour thurman. chin and experience are very important and physicly and powerwise they equal so factors like chin, experience, balance will bring the win. thurman by ud

I don't see how their power is equal. Thurman's power seems overrated. Now granted, he's been in there with some hard chins (Guerrero/Garcia) and Spence has not.

This threads slightly premature! Spence still has Brook to deal with first. That's not an easy fight for him.

IKSRTFO wrote:

Jip wrote:what happens?

techniquly they seem equal, maybe slight edge for thurman
power, equal
chin, well i have never seen thurman or spence getting hit with a big time punch, judging from the neck muscle id clearly favour thurman
athleticsm, nobody is more athletic than spence at 147, he is a rare physical specimen

i'd favour thurman. chin and experience are very important and physicly and powerwise they equal so factors like chin, experience, balance will bring the win. thurman by ud

I don't see how their power is equal. Thurman's power seems overrated. Now granted, he's been in there with some hard chins (Guerrero/Garcia) and Spence has not.

Garcia took Thurman's looping right to the chin. Keith also failed to stop Bundu and Guerrero. His power is definitely overrated.

boxing_rocks wrote:

IKSRTFO wrote:

Jip wrote:what happens?

techniquly they seem equal, maybe slight edge for thurman
power, equal
chin, well i have never seen thurman or spence getting hit with a big time punch, judging from the neck muscle id clearly favour thurman
athleticsm, nobody is more athletic than spence at 147, he is a rare physical specimen

i'd favour thurman. chin and experience are very important and physicly and powerwise they equal so factors like chin, experience, balance will bring the win. thurman by ud

I don't see how their power is equal. Thurman's power seems overrated. Now granted, he's been in there with some hard chins (Guerrero/Garcia) and Spence has not.

Garcia took Thurman's looping right to the chin. Keith also failed to stop Bundu and Guerrero. His power is definitely overrated.

Bundu, yes. Guerrero, I don't fault because Guerrero hasn't been stopped by anyone. And Keith did hurt him bad.

Thurman has really good power. I don't feel it's overrated unless you expect him to KO all his opponents. Guerrero has an excellent chin, as does Garcia. That being said, Thurman did stun Garcia on more than one occasion. Tito didn't KO all his opponents... would you say he had overrated power?

Whatever you say, Thurman hasn't stopped ONE top level opponent. Even if Collazo qualifies to be a top level, that fight was only stopped due to the cut.

boxing_rocks wrote:Whatever you say, Thurman hasn't stopped ONE top level opponent. Even if Collazo qualifies to be a top level, that fight was only stopped due to the cut.

I agree. That is why I labeled him Sometimes, and I am thinking about renaming him Once Upon A Time.

However, he has enough pop to keep beasts at bay, as witnessed Saturday night.

Keith seemed curiously reluctant about facing Spence a few years ago when that fight was first discussed - Keith is clearly ripe to be outboxed and Spence has the capapbility to box circles around him - Didn't they spar in Las Vegas? Just have a sneaking sense that Thurman knows Spence is his kryptonite

boxing_rocks wrote:Whatever you say, Thurman hasn't stopped ONE top level opponent. Even if Collazo qualifies to be a top level, that fight was only stopped due to the cut.

He stopped Diego Chaves who I consider a top guy who is a very tough guy and underrated. Thurman dropped the very durable Guerrero and stunned Garcia multiple times. Sure, he's not "One Time", but his power is definitely there. People just like to split hairs when it comes to fighters they don't like.

Impractical Poster wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:Whatever you say, Thurman hasn't stopped ONE top level opponent. Even if Collazo qualifies to be a top level, that fight was only stopped due to the cut.

He stopped Diego Chaves who I consider a top guy who is a very tough guy and underrated. Thurman dropped the very durable Guerrero and stunned Garcia multiple times. Sure, he's not "One Time", but his power is definitely there. People just like to split hairs when it comes to fighters they don't like.

I like Thurman, and I scored the fight 9-3 for him. I just don't see the power. He fought very aggressively for 3-4 rounds but discovered that even his wild punches can't drop Garcia.

boxing_rocks wrote:

Impractical Poster wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:Whatever you say, Thurman hasn't stopped ONE top level opponent. Even if Collazo qualifies to be a top level, that fight was only stopped due to the cut.

He stopped Diego Chaves who I consider a top guy who is a very tough guy and underrated. Thurman dropped the very durable Guerrero and stunned Garcia multiple times. Sure, he's not "One Time", but his power is definitely there. People just like to split hairs when it comes to fighters they don't like.

I like Thurman, and I scored the fight 9-3 for him. I just don't see the power. He fought very aggressively for 3-4 rounds but discovered that even his wild punches can't drop Garcia.

You don't think that had more to do with Garcia's chin though? I agree, he definitely took the foot off the pedal after his punches stopped stinging Garcia. But, he did sting a guy who I can't remember getting stung before. And he did it a few times.

In recent years, against his best competition, if he has not stopped his opponent, he has knocked them all down with the exception of Porter and Garcia. And neither have been down. His power isn't GGG power, but it is probably within the top echelon of the sport.

Porter was down against broner. Same assessment from me for Thurman I had before the fight, overrated puncher and underrated boxer.

I think Spence would show he is a class above Thurman and most others.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Porter was down against broner. Same assessment from me for Thurman I had before the fight, overrated puncher and underrated boxer.

Is it the moniker that makes his power overrated? Cause I don't remember anyone calling him a straight up killer. He's a very solid puncher.

Impractical Poster wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Porter was down against broner. Same assessment from me for Thurman I had before the fight, overrated puncher and underrated boxer.

Is it the moniker that makes his power overrated? Cause I don't remember anyone calling him a straight up killer. He's a very solid puncher.

He definitely isn't a weak puncher. I've seen him compared to hearns, though it's tempering now.

Impractical Poster wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:Whatever you say, Thurman hasn't stopped ONE top level opponent. Even if Collazo qualifies to be a top level, that fight was only stopped due to the cut.

He stopped Diego Chaves who I consider a top guy who is a very tough guy and underrated. Thurman dropped the very durable Guerrero and stunned Garcia multiple times. Sure, he's not "One Time", but his power is definitely there. People just like to split hairs when it comes to fighters they don't like.

No one never said that he didn't have power or that he's feather fisted, just that his power is overrated and he fights like it's overrated often believing every guy he hits will go down and then elects to back up and move halfway into the fight if the person is still there.

We have seen Thurmans flaw we have not seen Spences.

Tarkus wrote:We have seen Thurmans flaw we have not seen Spences.

I highly doubt Spence has the same type of chin that Garcia has. I won't be surprised if Brook KD's or even KO's Spence.

Tarkus wrote:We have seen Thurmans flaw we have not seen Spences.

sure we have seen some flaws from spence. bundu landed some clear shots on him. so, he like all boxer can be punched and if small bundu can do it, gues what porter or thurman can do.

Baby Face Finster wrote:

Tarkus wrote:We have seen Thurmans flaw we have not seen Spences.

I highly doubt Spence has the same type of chin that Garcia has. I won't be surprised if Brook KD's or even KO's Spence.

this. also, when somebody is overly aggressive, always going for the ko, than ones they face better opponents who punch back and punch hard, that they cant react to what they facing now, cause for the first time they have no limited boxer infront of them. like i said, judging from the neck muscles i dont see spence having good chin, stamina seems alright, looks alaways in tremendous shape, but to survive 12 rds vs guys like tuhrman or someone who always comes forward throwing wild like porter you need to have chin. wounder what will happen against brook.