As the clock winds down to their big welterweight title unification fight, Keith Thurman takes some time to chat it up with FightHub about opponent Danny Garcia and his most notable weapon -- his left hook. Check out what Thurman had to say...
On being pumped-up for this huge fight on CBS:
"Let's be real, man. How many times have you put a mic in my face?! Ya'll don't feel like you understand who Keith Thurman is?! That Keith Thurman is now living his American Dream. That I don't hold no fear. That I'm just ready, man, I was born for this sport, I was raised in this sport as a child. This is my destiny, this is what I've always wanted to be.
"I look forward to the challenge of facing Danny Garcia. I look forward to that challenge of any man that signs that contract. I got a love for boxing...I'm gonna give you guys everything that I have, to this sport, 'til the day that I retire. It's a blessing to be a champion of the world today. It's a blessing to be facing a undefeated champion like Danny Garcia. Welterweight division, we're making history Saturday night, and honestly, ever since I was a kid that's all I wanted to do, was to leave my fingerprint on the sport of boxing, and now my time has come."
On all the talk about Garcia's left hook being a big factor in the fight:
"When he swings, he swings. He's committed...he's a flat-footed fighter, right? Which means that people can dance around him. But what they forget about what being a flat-footed fighters means is that they are always on balance. So because he's always on balance, once it's time to exchange he's ready and he's planted to let those big shots go...The people on the internet, the bloggers, the talkers, they all talk about that no-look hook. They say, 'Keith! Watch out for that hook...it's deadly.' And like I said, he commits to it and that's the beauty of Danny Garcia's style. When he's swingin', he's swingin' at you...I'm looking forward to the challenge of facing Danny Garcia, my eyes will be wide open, it should be a great fight."
[Editors Note: For the record, I have never talked about that no-look hook. Go home, Keith. You're dehydrated].
On people wrongly referring to Garcia's no-look hooks as just lucky punches:
"He gauges the distance, he knows you're in the pocket to trade with him, so he swings. If you're there, I don't have to look at you to hit you. If I'm looking down I can see your feet, I know you're close enough - boom...I don't have to look at you to look at you. That's something that people don't fully understand."
Considering the wide reach of this fight since it's airing on CBS, is he coming into the fight 'not-to-lose' or is he specifically going for a knockout on grand stage:
"For me it's both. I want to get that knockout. You know my motto - KOs for life. I have more KOs than I have decisions. But at the end of the day this is the world class level of boxing. We want to stay champion, we want to be victorious Saturday night. We're gonna do what it takes to achieve that. We hurt Shawn Porter in the last fight, Porter stayed up on his feet. We've trained a little harder for this fight, if we hurt Danny we will be trying to get him out of there.
"I got many different styles. I know boxing very well. I know inside fights, outside fights. What matters is - what is working? Whatever is working, I'm going to repeat that. Because I want the outcome to favor me and not my opponent. If something is working for him, I want to make an adjustment and take that strategy away from him."