Keith Thurman shed three years of ring rust in three rounds, by scoring an emphatic knockout of Brock Jarvis in Sydney, Australia.
They headlined at the Hordern Pavilion on a No Limit Boxing show, and Florida’s former unified welterweight champion, boxing at junior middleweight for the first time, scored two hard knockdowns on his way to a stoppage win after 2.19 of the decisive round.
Florida’s Thurman, 31-1 (22 KOs) with one no contest, made a purposeful start but there was a spell in the opener when Jarvis planted his feet and let his hands go to the body and head of the American. Thurman covered up well, but it was an interesting and engaging first session.
Thurman, 36 years old and fighting for the first time since defeating Mario Barrios in 2022, introduced more right hands to the body in the second and at the end of that frame he landed both that shot again and a left hook upstairs.
With a minute to go in the third, Thurman thudded in a right round the corner and it clearly registered. While Jarvis didn’t exactly freeze, he no longer tried to defend himself as he had done before and that allowed Thurman more huge shots, hooks and a vicious left uppercut, dropping the Australian heavily.
Jarvis clambered back to his feet, and as Thurman poured it on, the referee looked to intervene but an equally violent Thurman left hook beat the official to bring about the sudden end.
Jarvis was dumped hard in a corner, and the fight was all over.
Having been called out by Michael Zerafa earlier in the night, Tim Tszyu – ringside as a broadcaster for the evening – was then called out by Thurman.
Thurman also said that, despite his inactivity, he had stayed in shape.
“I’ve had a lot of fights, contracts, camps that fell out for a lot of reasons but my love for the sport is still here… Anyone can get it, baby,” he said.
He said he saw Jarvis wince after a left to the body and that gave him the opportunity to set up his finishing sequence.
“I just wanted to get in the ring, box hard and box smart,” he said.
Thurman also praised Jarvis for “showing grit”, adding: “I was really impressed he got up [from the first knockdown], but I knew he was in a very weakened state.”
Asked about his future plans, Thurman said: “I would love to come back again… Yeah, I just raised the bar on you, Tszyu. You want to come back, you’ve got to come back hard… Send the contract, I’ll sign it.”
Tszyu fights Joey Spencer in Newcastle, Australia, in April in his return from his loss in October to Bakhram Murtazaliev.
The 27-year-old Jarvis, 22-2 (20 KOs), from Marickville in Australia, turned pro at 115lbs in 2015.
Beforehand, both fighters had suffered just one defeat. Thurman’s was a decision to Manny Pacquiao, while Jarvis lost in a round to his countryman Liam Paro three fights ago.