Keith Thurman vs Josesito Lopez Live Poll

Keith Thurman vs Josesito Lopez Live Poll. Keith Thurman returns to the ring after a two year layoff to take on Josesito Lopez for the WBA title. Thurman, who has battled a variety of injuries since he won a split decision vs. Garcia in March 2017, is returning on Saturday vs. Josesito Lopez on Fox to see if he can fight his way back to the top of the welterweight division, where plenty of rich fights against elite opponents potentially live.

Before Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) can battle the likes of Errol Spence or Terence Crawford (or maybe even Manny Pacquiao), though, he has to get past Lopez (36-7, 19 KOs)—a former title contender who, at the age of 34, is considered a soft touch at this point in his career. The oddsmakers know it, and Thurman is a massive -10000 favorite (Lopez, meanwhile, is a +1600 underdog, meaning you’d win $1,600 by wagering $100).

Still, there are plenty of reasons to watch Thurman vs. Lopez on Saturday night. Here are three of them.

1) How much ring rust does Thurman have?: This is really the No. 1 question heading into this fight. The last time Thurman was in the ring, here’s what he accomplished vs. Garcia. But it’s been 22 months since we’ve seen Thurman, and it’ll be fascinating to see what the 30-year-old can show boxing fans after having been gone for so long, especially since Thurman said his training camp got off to a slow start. “I don't think ring rust will be an issue,” Thurman said. “Even if this may not be the best Keith Thurman that people have ever seen, we’re focused on getting better and much stronger with each fight. … You always have to be a little worried about new injuries. There’s nothing wrong with your car until the day it decides to break down. So at the end of the day, it’s always in the back of my mind. I run a lot of miles, so I wonder about my knees. I wonder about my shoulders also. Athletes and their bodies go through a lot of things. But here I go getting right back into things and I'm totally ready to showcase my talents.”

2) Lopez has at least one solid win on his resume: While Lopez has faced some of the best welterweights and junior middleweights of his generation, he’s lost against most of his elite opponents (including Canelo Alvarez, Marcos Maidana, Jessie Vargas and Andre Berto). But he scored an upset victory vs. Victor Ortiz in 2012. Although Lopez was more than a 6/1 underdog, he stopped Ortiz after the ninth round. Seven years later, Lopez said he can pull off another big upset, particularly with a new trainer. “I think that since I started working with Robert Garcia, all of my skills are on par with Keith Thurman,” Lopez said. “Most importantly, I'm a much smarter fighter than I've ever been. I'm always going to be courageous in the ring, but we've developed a game plan where I take less unnecessary risks. The most important thing in my game plan is for me to dictate the pace. I need to control the ring throughout the fight. I'm prepared for however he brings the fight.”

3) Could Thurman face Pacquiao next: Thurman has talked this week about the potential of facing Pacquiao, who is doing his best to score a rematch with Floyd Mayeather. But a win vs. Lopez could help pave the way for a potential Pacquiao-Thurman matchup. “It does interest me,” Thurman said. “I just know he's interested in fighting Mayweather again. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand how much money they're going to generate, even if they were to generate half the income that they did last time. Some people believe that people don't want to see it. But I tend to find out people watch what's on TV. So it's interesting. I would love an opportunity to fight a legend such as Manny Pacquiao.”