‘One Time’ scored a sensational third-round knockout earlier today, his first in over a decade, after being absent from the ring for three long years.
The eyes of the boxing world were firmly fixed on Sydney, Australia this morning for former unified welterweight world champion Keith Thurman’s highly anticipated return to action.
It’d been three years since the last time we saw Thurman inside the ring, and it’s safe to say that ‘One Time’ was over the moon with his performance down under.
- EXPLAINED: Oscar De La Hoya warns Devin Haney he may ‘never recover’ from Ryan Garcia defeat as comeback looms
Keith Thurman’s return fight ends in sensational knockout
Former welterweight champion Keith Thurman was widely expected to defeat Brock Jarvis in his first-ever fight down at junior welterweight, and it was certainly a back-and-forth affair for the opening few rounds.
However, as the fight entered its third stanza, Thurman began to find his range and rhythm; dazing Jarvis with a powerful right hand before dropping the Australian with a brutal uppercut.
Whilst Jarvis was able to get back to his feet, the writing was on the wall for Thurman’s first knockout win in over 10 years – one big left hook later, and the fight was over.
“Come on, baby! One Time! We back!” screamed Thurman to the crowd, later teasing on the broadcast that he still has the motivation to regain his championship belts at 36 years old.
“I’ve had a lot of fights, contracts, camps that fell out for a lot of reasons but my love for the sport is still here… Anyone can get it, baby!”
Taking to X, Thurman has since doubled down on his reaction to the win, simply writing “I’m baaack!”
As of March 2025 and according to BoxRec, Thurman remains the #4 ranked best welterweight on the planet behind Jin Sasaki (#3), Ryan Garcia (#2), and Jaron Ennis (#1) – so what’s next for ‘One Time’?
Keith Thurman teases Tim Tszyu showdown after canceled bout
Following his third-round knockout win over Jarvis, Thurman would state that he’d love the opportunity to fight on the world stage once again – especially against former champion Tim ‘The Soul Taker’ Tszyu.
“I would love to come back again… Yeah, I just raised the bar on you, [Tim] Tszyu. You want to come back, you’ve got to come back hard… Send the contract, I’ll sign it!”
Tszyu and Thurman had been scheduled to throwdown in March 2024, with ‘One Time’ pulling out of that contest after suffering a torn bicep in training.
Prior to his KO win over Jarvis, No Limit Boxing’s George Rose confirmed “We’ve locked in that if Keith Thurman wins this fight, he will fight Tim Tszyu in his next fight.”
“If it happens to have Tim Tszyu’s name on the other side, I’ll be happy to sign it,” Thurman himself stated at Monday’s pre-fight press conference.
“I’ve already signed a contract against Tim Tszyu once. It was an unfortunate event. We didn’t get to make that, maybe this is the year.”
Tszyu is scheduled to fight Joey Spencer on April 6 in New South Wales, Australia.