“We all think we’ve got one more boxing match in us and that, probably, will be the downfall of Floyd Mayweather, George Foreman, Manny Pacquiao. We’ll overstay our welcome.” –George Foreman

At 5’7”, Keith Thurman, Jr. stands an inch taller than his opponent, Senator Manny Pacquiao. However, the former looks menacing when facing an opponent, ready to unload his signature hooks. He is reminiscent of Thomas Hearns, who ruled the boxing ring in the 1980s and owned one of the sport’s scariest knockouts—the second round demolition of Roberto Duran at the Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on June 15, 1984.
Hearns, a 25 years old at the time, knocked the daylights out of his 33-year-old Panamanian opponent, who was considered “past his peak and something less than highly motivated” at the time, in a World Boxing Council super welterweight title bout.
Generally a slow starter, Duran, who earlier lost to Marvin Hagler via unanimous decision, was looking to take his time in order to find his rhythm; however, the taller, stronger, and more assertive Hearns never gave him a chance. His annihilation of Duran was viewed as one of the single-most devastating right-hand missiles ever thrown, which crashed on the side of Panamanian boxer’s jaw, causing him to instantly go limp and collapse face first (referee Carlos Padilla didn’t even bother to count).
Like Duran, Pacquiao is highly-touted and revered as a dangerous ring warrior who doesn’t backpedal against taller opponents.
Technically, at 40, Pacquiao is also considered “past his prime.”
I interviewed Duran in 2015, where he expressed his admiration for the Filipino boxer—a sentiment that is mutual between the two. Pacquiao idolized Duran, who amazingly fought across five decades, from the 1960s until his final bout in 2001, where he lost via unanimous decision to the late Hector Camacho.
Both Duran and Pacquiao are sometimes carless, such as when the Filipino fight was walloped by Juan Manuel Marquez’s short right in 2012 (one of Pacquiao’s most brutal knockout defeats).
The similarities don’t end there. The two are also hailed as “folk heroes” in their respective countries and, when they unexpectedly lost important world title bouts (ones they should have won), fans gave them second chances to redeem themselves.
Thurman is a confident fighter like Hearns. During fierce exchanges, his punches usually come from outside and are delivered mostly as counters—and they pack a wallop. Pacquiao’s camp may not force the issue in the first three rounds and wait for Thurman to fade in the middle rounds – similar to what happened when Thurman won against Josesito Lopez in January 2019.
While a knockout is not expected in this fight, it would not be a shocker is the veteran fighter quits out of fatigue or after being pummeled by Thurman’s dizzying hooks. If Thurman understands using science to tire out an older man, he might cruise to a unanimous decision win.
In retrospect, what transpired between Duran and Hearns wasn’t so shocking. As famed writer Michael Calbert described: “No one, not even a deadly puncher like ‘The Hit Man,’ knocks out Roberto Duran. It had never happened before; no one expected it to happen now.”

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Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ