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    Pacquiao not the hardest puncher I ever faced, claims Thurman

    Thurman: [Danny Garcia punch] felt like a big brick, Pacquiao's felt like a little brick'
    Jun 25, 2021
    PHOTO: AP

    MANNY Pacquiao may have put Keith Thurman in the seat of his pants, but the latter swore the Filipino was not the biggest puncher he ever faced inside the ring.c

    The distinction belonged to former world champion Danny Garcia, who Thurman beat by split decision in 2017 to unify the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight titles.

    Garcia never scored a knockdown against Thurman, unlike Pacquiao who sent the previously unbeaten American down on the canvas with a combination late in the first round on the way to securing a split decision in their July 2019 title fight.

    But not even that could convince Thurman, 32, that Pacquiao is the meaner puncher than Garcia.

    “Nobody hit like Danny (Garcia). He felt like a big brick, Pacquiao's felt like a little brick,” said Thurman in an interview with FightHype.com.

    Was it the gloves?

    “Now the weird part is that Pacquiao’s hands just felt heavy. After the fight, I was like why did his fist feel so hard in the fight? I could handle it, but I was thinking does he do certain training? Does he have more bone density in his hands? Did they do some Asian stuff? What did they do?”

    Not that the Florida native is insinuating something, but he is only puzzled with what he felt during the 12-round bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

    Upon further scrutiny, Thurman’s camp came to conclusion that it certainly had to do with the gloves.

    “I was looking at a picture that my dad framed up at his house, he took a picture of me and Pac trading body blows. When I looked at the picture, I noticed that Pacquiao wore those old-school Mexican Reyes gloves,” said Thurman.

    The American of course, was referring to the Cleto Reyes brand of gloves often referred to as the ‘puncher’s glove’ owing to its lightweight feel, slimmer profile, and most importantly, an inner layer of horsehair padding that tends to flatten down and harden over the course of a fight.

    Manny Pacquiao hits Keith Thurman during their 2019 title fight.

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    Thurman recalled using the same brand previously, and had immense success with it.

    “Back when me and Ben Getty (his old trainer who already passed away), were knocking everybody out, we always wore those Mexican Reyes gloves,” he said.

    “What would it have felt like for Pacquiao if I would’ve worn those Reyes?” Thurman asked.

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      But he has high respect for Pacquiao’s punches, which had victimized 39 of the 61 opponents the Pacman had.

      “Pacquiao does hit hard. He hits fast, but as a welterweight, it’s not the hardest punch I’ve ever felt. It’s the hardest punch I’ve ever felt coming from a little guy,” Thurman said.

      “But Danny Garcia, the way he plants his feet, the way he develops torque into his punches, he’s not even a real welterweight, and to me, he was the hardest hitting welterweight that I faced.”

      Incidentally, Garcia was the last fighter Errol Spence faced in the ring. He scored a unanimous decision to retain his World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight titles December of last year.

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        Spence will stake those same belts when he meets Pacquiao on August 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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        PHOTO: AP
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