Keith Thurman Will Not Retire

Keith Thurman is not reaching its final chapter just yet, despite a sixth-round TKO defeat at the hands of WBC Junior Middleweight Champion Sebastian Fundora.

The end came at the 1:17 mark of the sixth round when referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to protect a bloodied Thurman, who was absorbing a heavy barrage of punches against the ropes. Though the record books will show a TKO loss, Thurman arrived at the post-fight press conference in Las Vegas adamant that he was denied the chance to go out on his shield.

Thurman argued that because he remained on his feet and was never "buckled" or dropped, the intervention was premature. Interestingly, Thurman revealed that referee Thomas Taylor had visited him before the walk, specifically warning him that he needed to "show something" to stay in the fight if he fell behind. Despite the official wave-off, Thurman insisted his faculties were intact.

Thurman Reacts

Thurman confirmed that he still possesses the hunger to compete at the highest level, citing his performance in the early rounds as proof that he can still hang with the division’s elite. "One Time" indicated he plans to remain in the junior middleweight division, looking for "legacy" matchups that can propel him back into title contention later in 2026.

"Fundora’s a tremendous champion, but whoever the f**k that referee was, don’t hire him for fing main event s*t again, real talk. I never got dropped in the whole fight. I’m getting caught on the back end of punches. The referee told me in the locker room, ‘show me something, move your feet, duck your head – I won’t stop the fight.’

"The fight was getting fun. People were getting on their feet. We were just getting into the grind. I’ll be back, man. I want to do great things in boxing once again, and I’m gonna come back hard, I’m gonna come back strong," Thurman said

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