Many-Sided Thurman in the Role of a Lifetime in His Fight to Unseat Pacquiao

Many-sided Thurman in the role of a lifetime in his fight to unseat Pacquiao By Norm Frauenheim- Keith Thurman has lots to say, more than enough for Manny Pacquiao to pick and choose whatever he might need for just the right amount of motivation before their welterweight fight July 20 at Las Vegas MGM Grand. “Never been more focused,’’ Pacquiao said Wednesday during a media workout at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and again on Thursday during a conference call. Never more grateful, either. Pacquiao has heard it all over nearly two decades at the top of a very noisy game. At this point, the Filipino Senator, boxing’s humble elder, knows what to use and what to discard. It doesn’t matter if it’s true. It just matters if it works. Enter Thurman, who is providing a whole menu of rhetorical options. Want outrage? Thurman can do that. In the early news conferences, he promised to “crucify” Pacquiao, a deeply religious man. Want cocky? Thurman can do that, too. Throughout subsequent media days and conference calls, he said he had the most complete resume in the welterweight division. Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. are the consensus best at 147 pounds, but they don’t’have the bully pulpit this week or next. For now, that stage belongs to Thurman, a many-sided personality who is doing his job. Big fights are about salesmanship, and Thurman is delivering it fearlessly and relentlessly. That’s a dangerous combination. But it is endlessly fascinating from a fighter who has also called himself an entrepreneur. He understands risk and roles. He has taken on both in a difficult challenge of Pacquiao, who has always played the good guy. That’s Pacquiao’s natural role, his only role. Guess here, Thurman knows that and has filled the only role left to him. He knew he was the bad guy the day he signed for the fight. The black hat fits him well. But does it define him? I don’t think so. “I bring entertainment,’’ Thurman said this week in a conference call. “If I win, I bring entertainment. If I lose, I bring entertainment.’’ If that stretch of canvas between the ropes is theater, Thurman might be the most versatile actor of them all. There’s a fair question as to whether he has as many punches as he has sides to his personality. But his bold salesmanship is bound to attract an audience full of Pacquiao fans who want to see him silenced and another crowd wondering whether he can in fact back it up. For now, it’s a pick-em fight After it is all over, however, it would be no surprise to see two fighters more alike than different. Many-sided often means inherent contradictions, and there were plenty of those on display in Thurman throughout the build-up for the Fox pay- per-view fight. Thurman practices yoga. There is a spiritual side to him, just like Pacquiao. There’s a practical side to him. I asked him last week if he envisioned fighting at 40. He’s 30; Pacquiao is 40. “Hell, no,” he said. “At 35, I’ll pick up a book and maybe go to college. “At least now, I can afford a college education.’’ Oh yeah, he’s funny, too. Mostly, however, there are repeated reasons to believe he really admires Pacquiao, despite all of that over-the-top trash talk. Thurman watched Pacquiao beat Adrien Broner at the MGM Grand in January, his first fight after he turned 40 in December. Thurman had a fight a week later against Josesito Lopez, whom he beat in a so-so performance on Jan 26 in Brooklyn. But Pacquiao inspired him. “I went out for a run at 1 a.m. the week before my own fight because of what Manny did,’’ Thurman said. “I was inspired by what I saw in him, by what he wants to do now at 40.’’ Now, Thurman is in a role to stop who, what inspired him..

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