Unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman is going to be out for quite possibly the rest of 2017.
Thurman announced that he had major surgery done on his right elbow and that he will be out for at least six months. Thurman said he had been suffering pain in his elbow in the buildup to his fight against then-WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia, whom Thurman defeated on March 4.
"I had loose bodies in the elbow, similar to what baseball pitchers have," Thurman said. "They had to go in and take out the loose bodies and calcium deposits. It was getting in the way of the hinging of the elbow and when I threw a punch. It was causing pain and inflammation. I noticed it before the Danny Garcia fight. There was no way to get rid of it without the surgery. I'm healing and getting the function back so that I can be pain-free."
The surgery was performed by Dr. Riley Williams last month in Manhattan and Thurman said he was advised by his doctors to rest the elbow for at least six months, seemingly closing the door for Thurman to fight in 2017. Thurman did say his hope is to fight at the end of the year, remaining optimistic that he will recover fast enough to fight before 2018.
With Thurman already winning one welterweight unification bout in 2017, another unification fight could be on the horizon. IBF welterweight titleholder Kell Brook is defending his belt against Errol Spence Jr. on May 27. Thurman said he will be watching that fight and hoping he can make a bout with the winner possible.
"I'll be tuning in and looking forward to the belt coming back to America and looking forward to seeing what Kell Brook has to offer at 147 pounds. I want to see if he wants to make his stand at 147. I like the idea of Spence showing everybody he's the 'Truth'' and Kell trying to show everybody how 'Special' he is," Thurman said.
One fight that Thurman had lined up was a title defense against Shawn Porter. Just weeks after Thurman defeated Garcia, Porter defeated Andre Berto in a title eliminator at the Barclays Center. There is no indication as to what Porter's immediate fight future looks like.
