“Four more minutes, it would have been a lot of fun. I promise you,” Thurman said at the post-fight press conference. “He could have made a mistake.”
When a guy peers through two gaping eyes and claims he’s “in control,” you know the ego is doing all the talking.
Thurman’s “four more minutes” comment is particularly wild because in boxing time, four minutes is an eternity when you’re being used as a heavy bag. If he couldn’t find an answer in the previous twenty minutes, the idea that he would suddenly find a magic bullet while his face was falling apart is a massive stretch.
“Whoever was the referee should never put him in the main event again,” Thurman said. “I never dropped. I wasn’t buckled in. He just jumped in.”
Thurman ignores that standing TKOs exist specifically to prevent the kind of brain trauma that results from taking 15 unanswered shots while pinned to the ropes. Arguing that a referee should let a fight go longer just because it’s a headliner is a dangerous mindset. A referee’s job description does not change based on the slot on the card.
The final sequence showed something else. Thurman was back to the ropes, covering and taking repeated shots as Fundora pressed forward. When he tried to answer, his punches fell short, and Fundora returned with clean, heavy work.
There was no persistent​​​​​​​​offense that came back. The exchanges turned into survival, with Fundora walking him down and landing each time he trapped himself along the ropes.
Thurman said he feels good and wants more time. The way the round went suggested he wasn’t coming out of it.
