Keith Thurman Return Reportedly Pushed Back After Hand Injury
WBA, WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) is going to remain on the shelf even longer, according to ESPN.
The unified titleholder, 29 years-old, has already been out of the ring since last March, after winning a twelve round split decision over Danny Garcia to unify the two welterweight belts at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Thurman's return had been announced for May 19th, also at Barclays, in a Showtime televised main event.
But that return date is going to be pushed back, after reports have surfaced that Thurman suffered an injury to his left hand - which is going to require at least six weeks of rest.
His return was initially delayed, after undergoing surgery on his injured right elbow in the aftermath of the Garcia fight. Then Thurman got married and went away on his honeymoon.
There has been controversy over the May return, because Thurman openly stated that he wasn't going to face anyone in the top ten - and the opponent was said to be on the lower end of the rankings. Some insiders believe the contest would have likely been a non-title tuneup.
Initially the frontrunner to face him was Jessie Vargas - who claims Thurman and his handlers backed away from the fight. Vargas has since finalized a deal to fight Adrien Broner next month.
Another frontrunner was Josesito Lopez - and earlier this week it was announced that he would headline an April card on FOX against Miguel Cruz.
There will be a lot of pressure on Thurman from the sanctioning bodies, as he as several mandatory challengers waiting in the wings.
Under the WBC, there are two mandatories. The first, is Shawn Porter - who Thurman won a close decision over in 2016. And last month Danny Garcia knocked out Brandon Rios to become the secondary mandatory.
As far as the WBA, in January it was Lucas Matthysse who captured the WBA's "regular" title at the weight - a title that was sanctioned due to Thurman's inactivity. The WBA will eventually order him and Thurman to fight in order to establish a single beltholder.