Keith Thurman knows what it is like to share the ring with both Manny Pacquiao and Mario Barrios.
Pacquiao makes a sensational return to boxing at the age of 46 this weekend when he challenges Barrios for his WBC welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It will be his first fight since losing to Yordenis Ugas in August 2021, with Pacquiao’s last win coming six years ago when he defeated Thurman back in July 2019.
Thurman bounced back from that loss against ‘Pac-Man’ by defeating Barrios by unanimous decision in his next bout in February 2022, so has an expert opinion when it comes to breaking down the two fighters.
Speaking in his post-fight press conference after the win over Barrios, Thurman played down the power of the current WBC welterweight champion.
“Somebody lands a good shot, they land a good shot and body shots are just different, but it is interesting if I breathe deeply I still kinda just feel awkward in the body region, like I said I felt tenderness before I was even touched tonight so that one shot definitely awakened a little sensation of discomfort and pain but it wasn’t the hardest I’ve ever been hit.”
It was a contrast to when he fought Pacquiao, revealing in a separate interview that it felt like he had been hit like bricks when he took on ‘Pac-Man.’
“Pacquiao? It’s weird. Danny Garcia felt like a big brick, Pacquiao felt like a little brick. Okay now the weird part is Pacquiao’s hands just felt heavy, after the fight I constantly was thinking ‘Why did his fists feel like a rock?’, it was like awkward right? I was like ‘Why did his fists feel so hard?’”
Thurman isn’t the only one to discuss the power of Pacquiao, with the Filipino’s former foe Floyd Mayweather also giving his take after the two men met back in May 2015.