NEW YORK — Keith Thurman was a few minutes removed from successfully defending his WBA welterweight title, although it was a harder return fight than he might have imagined — the bruises on his face and swelling under both eyes serving as representations that fighting Josesito Lopez was anything but a warmup fight. Coming off a 22-month absence from the sport, "One Time" wanted to end Saturday night's fight inside six rounds. Instead, he had to go the distance in a hard-fought victory, which he won by majority decision (although the one judge who scored it a draw was definitely being overly generous toward Lopez). MORE: Join DAZN and watch more than 100 fight nights a year Taking the podium in a bright yellow Champion hoodie for his postfight press conference at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Thurman made a quick opening statement to the media and then fielded a few questions before making a candid admission. "There was a little insecurity of taking risks," Thurman said as he assessed his performance. Later in the press conference, he added: "That's what I'm going to take away from [Saturday night], is that Keith Thurman needs to have the confidence to take a little bit more risk in the battle, on the battlefield." Thurman explained that opportunities to piece together a jab-hook combination were there for him several times throughout the fight, but that "I just wasn't giving it the oomph that I really could've." Thurman did score a second-round knockdown of Lopez via a slick, step-back left hook, but not taking more risks possibly gave "Riverside Rocky" the opening to deliver a hellacious seventh round in which he had the champion backpedaling, reeling, hurt and in some serious trouble. Still, Thurman rebounded quite well in the eighth round, getting the bounce back in his step and putting together stinging combinations over the remainder of the fight to remain undefeated (29-0, 22 KOs). "I believe, and I've always believed, that I will find a way to victory," Thurman said. As Thurman continued speaking to the press, he said that he has learned a great deal from some of his boxing peers, such as Jeff Lacy, "Winky" Wright, Chad Dawson, Andre Berto and none other than Floyd Mayweather Jr. "I was at all of [Mayweather's] fights of his six-fight contract with Showtime, and what I learned from just being a spectator is if you want to be champion of the world, you need to win seven rounds — seven out of 12," Thurman said. He added seconds later: "I never said it out loud to all of you, but I will [Saturday night] — Floyd Mayweather is the best-ever seven-round fighter and with hard work, determination, grit and a will to win, he never — including when he let Marcos Maidana fight Marcos Maidana's fight — he never let a human being get more than five rounds in a 12-round fight." From watching Floyd Mayweather, Keith Thurman learned that you need to win seven rounds to be a winner in boxing. pic.twitter.com/YUJbA9w9QN — Sporting News Fights (@sn_fights) January 27, 2019 Thurman plans on doing that, too — win more rounds to win more fights to remain undefeated and be recognized as one of the all-time greats — but if you combine his self-assessment after beating Lopez and the valuable lesson Mayweather taught him, perhaps "One Time" needs to take more calculated risks to win those seven rounds per fight en route to more decision wins. Perhaps taking more calculated risks will lead to Thurman ending fights via stoppage, too. He does have deceptive power at 147 pounds. The 30-year-old Clearwater, Fla., native might get the chance to take more calculated risks later this year. Thurman spoke during the lead-up to Saturday's fight about wanting to fight two bouts in 2019 — his "get-back year." He also said that he would love for one of those fights to be against Manny Pacquiao or the winner of the Shawn Porter-Yordenis Ugas bout on March 9. Thurman vacated the WBC title because of injuries last spring, paving the way for Porter to score a unanimous decision over Danny Garcia to grab the gold in September. When Sporting News asked Thurman during the press conference if he'd rather have the fight against "Pac Man" or a shot at regaining his strap, which could spell a rematch against Porter, "One Time" first answered diplomatically. "They're both on my radar. At the end of the day, I’d probably take either one of those [fights]," he said. As he thought about it a few seconds longer, Thurman fine-tuned that response — sort of like he did an hour before as he made in-ring adjustments with precision. "Fighting a legend, I just feel like the clock is ticking," Thurman said of the 40-year-old Pacquiao's time left in the sweet science. "Mayweather is out of the game and if I have such an opportunity, it might prioritize fighting some of the younger fighters in the sport of boxing today." After his win over Josesito Lopez, SN asked Keith Thurman who he’d rather face next, Manny Pacquiao or the winner of Shawn Porter vs. Yordenis Ugas. This was his answer. pic.twitter.com/mNxbQfdYLB — Sporting News Fights (@sn_fights) January 27, 2019 Whether in a unifying fight against Pacquiao or the winner of Porter-Ugas, or in possible 2020 bouts with fellow welterweight champs Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford, Thurman will get to take calculated risks. After all, he might have to in order to stay undefeated and prove himself as the top welterweight in the game.<doc-sep>Keith Thurman has heard it all. During a nearly two-year absence from boxing to allow injuries to heal, the native of Clearwater, Fla., had to hear his moniker “One-Time” mocked by critics. “Some of them were humorous,” the unbeaten welterweight champion said this week. “I was called Keith ‘Sometime’ Thurman and Keith ‘Once Upon A Time’ Thurman. I thought that was creative.” The jokes over Thurman’s inactivity will end Saturday when he returns to the ring to meet Josesito Lopez of Riverside, Calif., at Barclays Center. Brooklyn-based Adam Kownacki takes on Gerald Washington in a heavyweight bout, while Claudio Marrero battles Tugstsogt Nyambayar in a featherweight clash. All three bouts will be televised live on Fox and Fox Deportes. Thurman hasn’t fought since March 4, 2017, when he earned a split decision over former champion Danny Garcia to add the WBC belt to his WBA welterweight crown. At age 28, Thurman was at the top of the division and in the prime of his career. But after taking a year off following elbow surgery, Thurman injured his left hand during training to the point at which he couldn’t jab without pain while wearing 16-ounce gloves. It took nearly another year for the hand to heal sufficiently to allow him to fight again. Meanwhile, with Thurman out of the ring, welterweights Terence Crawford, Shawn Porter, and Errol Spence Jr. emerged as belt-holders in the 147-pound division. Now Thurman begins his quest to reestablish himself against Lopez, who is 36-7 with 19 knockouts and has faced notable champions like Canelo Alvarez, Marcos Maidana and Andre Berto. “I’ve been out of the ring for two years,” said Thurman, who is 28-0 with 22 knockouts. “I was 28 years old the last time I fought. I’m 30 now. It was disappointing missing some of those years. Luckily, I’m still in my prime with tons to give. “I’m stepping back in the ring against Josesito Lopez to remind the world who Keith Thurman is, what it looks like when he’s fighting, how entertaining I can be and that I’m an elite fighter at 147.” The welterweight division is one of the most talented in boxing. Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs) is the WBO champion; Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) owns the IBF belt, while Porter (29-2-1, 17 KOs) is the IBF king. Thurman is technically the WBA champ, but is sharing the belt with interim champ Manny Pacquiao, who is coming off a win over Adrien Broner last weekend. Thurman already owns a win over Porter but suggested he may take on another contender before a mega-fight with one of the champs. “I just believe for the sport of boxing and for a lot of the top fighters and top contenders, this is a great moment to be part of a beautiful sport,” he said. “I’m looking forward to my return and I’m going to give you guys a good show.” Lopez doesn’t plan on being a walkover. “I’m always in tough battles because I don’t shy away from them,” he said. “I’m in a tough fight this weekend, but I’m more than ready for it. I feel like I’m at a championship level. I prepared well and I have no excuses.” Thurman said his left hand may need “monitoring,” but is fit. “I just want my health to hold up because I want to be an active fighter at the top of the welterweight division once again,” he said. Kownacki, a native of Poland who moved to the United States when he was 7, needs a win to continue his climb up the heavyweight rankings. “Every fight keeps getting bigger and bigger,” said Kownacki, who is 18-0 with 14 KOs. “I was an amateur when Barclays Center first started and now I’m the co-main event. I hope the next time here I’m the main event. That’s the goal.”<doc-sep>Keith Thurman returns to the ring after 22 months off and puts on a show with Josesito Lopez, as Thurman wins by majority decision. (1:32) Opening Bell: Thurman back in business NEW YORK -- After a 22-month layoff because of right elbow surgery followed by a left hand injury, welterweight world titlist Keith Thurman finally returned and is back in a business in a major way. In a highly entertaining fight, Thurman retained his belt for the fifth time, winning a majority decision over tough-as-nails Josesito Lopez on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Thurman then said something that should have come as no surprise: He wants a fight with secondary titlist and living legend Manny Pacquiao, who kept his version of the 147-pound title one week earlier in a wipeout decision over Adrien Broner. Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs), the fighting senator from the Philippines, has vowed to keep facing top opponents and not look for soft touches. The fact that he is now aligned with Premier Boxing Champions, as is Thurman, means it would likely a relatively easy fight to make, especially if Pacquiao does not get the fight he really wants: a rematch with Floyd Mayweather should he come out of retirement for the bout, as Mayweather has said is possible. Thurman is also interested in a rematch of a defense he had against Shawn Porter in 2016 because he would like to regain the belt he had to vacate during his injury layoff. Porter wound up winning the vacant belt last March. Pacquiao-Thurman, however, is a much bigger fight, and Thurman knows it. Pacquiao, who is technically Thurman's mandatory challenger, is 40 and probably not going to be around for too much longer, meaning time is of the essence. "Manny Pacquiao is not going to be here for the years to come. Just fighting a legend, I just feel like the clock is ticking," Thurman said during his postfight news conference. "Later this year, if that fight presents itself, I would definitely be open for negotiations, and I would love an opportunity to fight a legend. "He's not the young Manny Pacquiao that he once was, but he still is a great, world-class fighter. If we get that fight, we'd be happy to do it for ourselves and the fans." Dan Birmingham, Thurman's longtime trainer, also would like to see the fight with Pacman, calling him "a formidable challenge for anybody. We would love that fight. It's an exciting fight, and I think the fans would love it." Pacquiao is also interested in the fight, according to Sean Gibbons of Pacquiao's MP Promotions. "Senator Pacquiao is looking at all good fights at 147 pounds," Gibbons told ESPN. "Keith Thurman is an undefeated world champion. He definitely warrants consideration to fight. Thurman holds wins over Danny Garcia and current WBC world champion Shawn Porter. It would be an exciting fight." The prospect of that fight was almost washed away during the seventh round, in which Lopez nearly stopped Thurman, who survived and went on to win 117-109 and 115-111 on two scorecards, with the third judge surprisingly scoring it 113-113. Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs), 30, of Clearwater, Florida, definitely deserved the unanimous call. He scored a clean knockdown with a left hook in the second round, easily won the first five or six rounds and certainly won at least a couple of rounds in the second half of the fight. Also, per CompuBox data, he landed 130 more punches than Lopez (247-117). Keith Thurman survived a tough fight with Josesito Lopez on Saturday and now has a legend in his sights. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II However, Lopez was dominant in the seventh round and was rewarded with 10-8 scores from all three judges, even without a knockdown. Most viewed the fight as a mismatch on paper, with Lopez being hand-picked for Thurman's return because even though he's a hard worker and an entertaining fighter, he usually has failed against top opposition, including in knockout losses to Canelo Alvarez, Andre Berto and Marcos Maidana. But Lopez (36-8, 19 KOs), 34, of Riverside, California, fought one of his best fights and, to his credit, didn't complain about the decision, even though he and trainer Robert Garcia felt the fight could have been stopped during Lopez's seventh-round onslaught. "I felt like if the same would have happened to me when I hurt him, they would have stopped it in a heartbeat," Lopez said. "It sucks that I don't feel like I got a fair shake. But I'm OK with my performance. ... [Referee Steve Willis] could have easily stopped it, but maybe he was one punch away." Said Garcia: "Josesito landed so many good punches that round that if the ref would have stopped it, I don't think there would have been too many complaining. Keith is a strong survivor. He did whatever he had to to survive that round." Thurman gave it up to Lopez for his tenacity and go-for-it fight plan. "The straight right hand was snapping my head back. It wasn't rocking me over and over again, but my chin was not tucked well enough," Thurman said. "I was standing too straight up. He was really committed to lunging and taking risks. "At certain times, you don't know what a referee is going to do. And I was moving, and I felt like my movement was evidence that I was A-OK, because it was a tremendous amount of movement. And a lot of fighters that are not A-OK are gonna end up sitting on the ropes and are gonna end up taking those punches. And then, in that moment, even if the fighter doesn't go down, the ref has to really stay in there and think about it and most likely stop the fight. ... There was a moment, obviously, when it could've been one punch away maybe at least into a knockdown. If it was devastating enough, landed clean enough, it could've been a knockout." It wasn't a knockout, however. Thurman won fair and square, and perhaps the reward will be a Pacquiao fight.<doc-sep>That is because since March 4, 2017, when he scored a split decision over Garcia at Barclays, Thurman has been everywhere but in a boxing ring. He spent time in Japan, got married in Kathmandu, and spent four and a half months in Nepal with his new bride, Priyana. Internet whispers, if such things exist, abounded that Thurman’s injuries were not all that serious and that at age 30, he had simply lost his appetite for the ring after having won versions of the welterweight title in his last two fights, against Garcia and Porter.<doc-sep>
Keith Thurman (L), Lennox Lewis and Josesito López (R) attend Fox Sports and Premier Boxing Champions Press Conference Experience on Nov. 13, 2018 in Los Angeles. (Leon Bennett/Getty Images) Early in the first round of a 2014 fight with Keith Thurman, Leonard Bundu switched from a conventional stance to southpaw. At 40 years old, Bundu had 14 years on Thurman and much more experience at the highest level of boxing. Southpaws are frequently difficult for conventional boxers to handle, and when a right-hander switches unexpectedly into a left-handed stance, it can cause confusion. Thurman, though, showed the poise and wisdom of a grizzled veteran. When Bundu switched left-handed, he did, as well. He baited Bundu and dropped him with a perfect counter left, the first serious punch of the fight he threw. The crowd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas roared. It wasn’t the last time that crowd would make its feelings known during that fight, but it was the last time it cheered in unison. Thurman thoroughly outboxed Bundu over the next 11 rounds and won every round on all three cards to take a unanimous decision. The crowd wasn’t impressed and boos filled the arena. Never, though, did it deter Thurman, who fought with the understanding that he could land a shot against Floyd Mayweather in his next bout. “I had a lot of booing — a whole lot of booing — throughout that match but I didn’t let those boos dictate how I was going to be victorious,” said Thurman, who returns to the ring on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the first time in nearly two years when he meets Josesito López for the WBA welterweight title in the main event of a show televised by Fox. “I always flash back to the words of my original trainer, Ben Getty: ‘Smart fighters win; dumb fighters lose.’ He never said, ‘Strong fighters win; weak fighters lose. Fast fighters win; slow fighters lose. Smart fighters win. Dumb fighters lose.’ I learned from him to make smart decisions in that ring and not to let anyone else, especially a crowd, dictate to me how I should fight.” The irony is that Thurman has been one of the sport’s most telegenic fighters. His power is among the best in the welterweight division and he has both the understanding to set up shots and the speed to get through narrow openings. Story continues He hasn’t fought since taking a split decision over Danny Garcia on March 4, 2017, in Brooklyn, a bout that drew a peak audience of 5.1 million on CBS. Before that, he defeated Shawn Porter in a compelling battle on June 26, 2016. He had surgery on his elbow, injured his right hand and got married since fighting Garcia, accounting for his inactivity. Lopez wouldn’t under most circumstances be expected to provide a serious threat, but it’s always hard to predict how a fighter will fare with a long time out of the ring. Thurman said he’s seen the effects of his lay-off in his preparations. “This training camp has just been basically re-amping everything,” he said. “I can definitely tell I’ve been out of the ring and out of touch with the sport for a long time. At the same time, though, I’m Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman and I know this sport like the back of my hand. I’m grateful being back doing what I love to do.” He’s 28-0 with 22 knockouts and is a massive favorite to remain unbeaten by defeating Lopez. If he wins, he’ll be the front-runner to face Manny Pacquiao later this year, assuming Pacquiao doesn’t fight Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao seemed to indicate that he isn’t all that optimistic by taking a little jab at Mayweather, who watched him dismantle Adrien Broner on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden from a front-row ringside seat. “I only want to continue to fight the best,” Pacquiao said. “If Floyd can no longer fight at my level, then of course he should stay retired.” In the locker room following the fight, Pacquiao said “of course” he would be interested in a fight with Thurman if Thurman won and a Mayweather fight couldn’t be made. “The reason I signed [with the Premier Boxing Champions] is to be able to get all of those fights for the fans,” Pacquiao said. Thurman would be eager for the challenge if it presented itself.