ESPN ON PBC RESULTS & VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Tampa, Florida (July 11, 2015)–  Keith “One-Time” Thurman scored a gut-wrenching 8th round TKO over former world champion Luis Collazo to successfully defend his WBA welterweight title at a frenzied USF Sun Dome crowd of 4,136 fans in Tampa.

The spectacle and pageantry of big time boxing from its 80’s heyday was in the building and on your television screen, as ESPN lifted Al Haymon’s ‘Premiere Boxing Champions’ brand to its highest heights with a flawless production.
As for the star Keith Thurman, things could not have began better for the young champion, as he showed all the presence of a pound for pound menace in the opening stanzas. Controlling the space and the pace with a measured assault, “One-Time” displayed improved technique and overall ring generalship as he pressed Collazo with trademark aggression.

The theme changed in round 3, as Collazo began stalking Thurman in an effort to test the champions ability to fight moving backwards and his inside game. Thurman still controlled the action, as the affair tightened up, but in the 5th Collazo hurt Thurman badly with a massive left hook to the body. He followed up his rally more of the same in round 6, as Thurman appeared to gather himself toward the end of the round.
The champion cut Collazo in round 7, reasserting himself with authority as the round came to a close. The cut, though bad, did not seem bad enough to warrant a stoppage in the corner before the start of the 8th round, resulting in an 8th round TKO.

After the fight, Thurman once again called for a fight with Floyd Mayweather.

“I’m undefeated and he’s undefeated, its time to get this fight on so I can start a new era in the welterweight division,” said a fired up Thurman, to the delight of hometown fans. While Mayweather would seem unlikely for September, it is certainly time for Thurman to engage in more meaningful and lucrative bouts. Names such as the 40 year-old former champion Randall Bailey may be in the works following his vanquishing of Collazo, but the time is now to match Thurman with A level talent befitting of a star.

An overall solid performance tonight for Thurman still leaves room for growth for the powerful Clearwater product who paid homage to his late trainer Ben Getty on his trunks. One things for for, “One-Time” was a hit in Tampa, and the turn out should be bigger in his next defense.

Getting things started was Tony Harrison and Willie Nelson in the co-feature. After a fairly heated final presser between the two nearly resulted in a serious melee and conjured Hagler/Hearns type beef, it appeared to be bologna in what was a relatively tentative bout.

Harrison (21-1, 18KOs), appeared on cruise control, dictating the pace and outworking a lazy Nelson content to punch with extreme economy. But Nelson (24-2-1, 14KOs), in a sit down interview conducted after their wild final presser, revealed the gameplan was to progressively turn up the heat as the fight progressed, knowing Harrison had never been beyond 4 rounds.That’s exactly what he did.

Dropping the first two rounds, Nelson rebounded in round 3 before losing momentum in round 4. Round 5 was a bruising affair, as both fighters tried to seize control of the fight with sustained action and fierce exchanges.
After three more rounds that produced nothing you saw in skies on July 4th (prompting a cacophony of boo’s), Nelson reminded all of the #freeboxingforall (there’s a plug for your t-shirt Al Haymon) community why we watch and love boxing.

Seemingly on his way to a comfortable UD victory, a complacent Harrison put himself in poor position for a massive right hand to the temple which knocked Harrison back to his Detriot zipcode. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next for Harrison after this massive upset see’s his fallen star. As for Nelson, his is once again on the rise following this improbable victory.

There was also a strong local presence on the card as well, the most notable being lightweight veteran Edner Cherry and super welterweight upstart Antonio Tarver Jr.
Cherry (34-6-2, 18KOs) electrified the Sun Dome crowd with a spectacular 9th round KO of Luis Cruz (21-4, 16KOs). Cherry was dominant throughout and punctuated things with two highlight reel knockdowns, the latter needing absolutely no count. Tarver (3-0, 2KOs) showed flashes of offensive brilliance and a style reminiscent of his father against journeyman Oscar Gonzalez (9-12-1, 3Kos) in getting clear 4 round UD.

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