Keith Thurman plans on flipping the script on Manny Pacquiao. These are his plans

Manny Pacquiao’s Hall-of-Fame bound career always will feature the world titles he won in eight different weight classes as his noteworthy milestone.

Not lost in Pacquiao’s rise as one of boxing’s best fighters of the past two decades is the lasting and unwanted impact he made on conquered opponents.

At some point in their careers, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Timothy Bradley and Lucas Matthyse were considered elite level fighters. But the aftereffects of fighting Pacquiao forced De La Hoya, Bradley and Matthysse to immediately retire.

De La Hoya and Matthyse suffered knockout losses, while Bradley split two fights with Pacquiao before losing a lopsided decision in the rubber match. Only Hatton made an unsuccessful one-bout ring return, three years after his brutal second-round knockout loss to Pacquiao.

Now, as Pacquiao finishes final preparations for his welterweight title fight against Keith Thurman July 20 in Las Vegas, Thurman vows to flip the script and send the Philippines native into retirement.

“I’m very grateful, very happy to be sharing the ring with a legend like Manny Pacquiao,” Thurman said. “But for those who know boxing and truly understand boxing history times change. I believe boxing has come to a new era. Floyd [Mayweather Jr.] is gone. Pacquiao is here. Come July 20 he will disappear.

“With all respect, he’s a legend and he will always be remembered in the sport. But I’m doing to Manny Pacquiao what he did to Oscar De La Hoya. Oscar De La Hoya never fought again.”

A Clearwater resident, Thurman believes Pacquiao, who turned 40 in December, will succumb to his youth and skills. Thurman, 30, has made four successful defenses of the sanctioning body welterweight belt he won in 2015.

“I have no intention of losing to Manny Pacquiao,” he said. “I don’t see him winning any way, shape or form.”

Despite his four-year run as champion, Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) has not participated in the marquee event associated with a Pacquiao fight. Elbow surgery and a subsequent hand injury curtailed Thurman’s ring activity for 22 months. In his return January 26 Thurman survived a game challenge from Josesito Lopez and won a majority decision.

“You know that was not the best Keith Thurman that you’ve ever seen,” Thurman said. “Come July 20 you will see one of the best Keith Thurmans that you’ve ever seen.

“I worked hard to be a champion. I’ve always wanted to fight some of the greatest names in the sport of boxing. It’s my first pay-per-view. New territory for me. Not new territory for Manny Pacquiao.”

Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) aims to add new chapters to his successful career. Six months ago, Pacquiao was expected to face a difficult boxing test against Adrien Broner, yet Broner failed to engage and Pacquiao won a convincing unanimous decision.

“I’ve been in boxing for two decades and I’ve never been intimidated or scared of my opponent,” Pacquiao said. “Keith Thurman is the kind of fighter you cannot underestimate. He’s undefeated and this gives me more encouragement, more motivation to work hard. I like what I did before in my previous fights against the big names in boxing.”

“My time is not yet over. My journey will continue and that is what I want to prove on July 20.”

Of note

▪ Derrieck Cuevas is gradually building a home ring advantage at the Seminole Hard Rock Events Center. In his four previous bouts, Cuevas continued his ascent in the welterweight rankings with convincing victories at the Hollywood venue.

The native of Puerto Rico looks to build on his success at Hard Rock Friday night. Cuevas (21-0-1, 14 KOs) will make his fifth consecutive appearance at the 3,000-seat facility when he faces Mexico’s Jesus Beltran (17-2-2, 10 KOs) in the main event of an announced-seven-bout card.

The show also will feature South Florida based fighters Livan Navarro, Jessy Cruz and Blake Davis in undercard bouts.

▪ Coming up: Friday (7 p.m., at Seminole Hard Rock Events Center, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood): announced seven-bout card, headlined by Derrieck Cuevas vs. Jesus Beltran, 10, welterweights, tickets start at $60; for information visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Friday (10 p.m., Showtime): Jermain Franklin vs. Jerry Forrest, 10, heavyweights.

Saturday (8 p.m., Fox Sports1): Jamal James vs. Antonio DeMarco, 10, welterweights.

Saturday (10:30 p.m., ESPN): Shakur Stevenson vs. Alberto Guevara, 10, featherweights.

This story was originally published July 7, 2019 at 11:19 AM.