Keith Thurman may have a gig at the Fed waiting for him after his boxing career if he keeps up his inflation talk.
The former welterweight titleholder from Clearwater, Florida responded to a question about the blowback he has received regarding the relatively high price point of his Feb. 5 PBC/FOX Sports Pay-Per-View main event against Mario Barrios at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. krikya360.com first reported that the pay-per-view will cost viewers $74.95. That is nearly twice as expensive as the network’s first pay-per-view show of the year, the Jan. 1 Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin heavyweight bout that was offered at $39.95.
The low price point of the Ortiz-Martin fight, which was also the subject of much outrage for being on the pay-per-view platform in the first place, at least reflected fans’ opinions about the comparatively undistinguished quality of that fight, although it turned out to be interesting for as long as it lasted: Ortiz overcame a pair of early knockdowns to stop Martin in the sixth round in titillating fashion. There was expectation that FOX would set the pay-per-view price of Thurman-Barrios in similar fashion. Instead, the network slapped it with the standard price point for most boxing pay-per-view shows today.
Thurman, however, believes that the $74.95 price tag for his fight is justified, given how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused consumer prices worldwide to balloon.
“2022, COVID, so much has changed in the world,” Thurman told Behind The Gloves. “Go buy groceries. How much do your groceries cost today? You’re gonna spend 80 bucks buying groceries. You’re gonna spend 40 bucks putting water in the refrigerator, OK? You wanna talk about prices, you’re gonna make me want to put my political hat on and I’mma start talking about the value of the US dollar. I’mma start talking about how bubblegum ain’t 25 cents no more, you know? That’s fact number one.”
But beyond the diminishment of American currency, Thurman believes the entire card carries tremendous value for the consumer. The undercard features Abel Ramos vs. Josesito Lopez, Luis Nery vs. Carlos Castro, Leo Santa Cruz vs. Keenan Carbajal, Jesus Ramos vs. Vladimir Hernandez, among others.
“Let’s get into another fact,” Thurman said. “Let’s look into February 5th. What do you get? You’re not just getting Keith Thurman and Mario Barrios. This is not Shawn Porter versus Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford where nobody wants to watch the undercard. This is one of the most stacked undercards of the year. I cannot guarantee that my next fight will have an undercard as stacked as this fight.
“I’m gonna be backstage, warming up, watching every single fight. It’s gonna be a great night boxing. From the moment that pay-per-view hits you have action-packed fights. This is not just the Thurman show. I would love to take all the credit. But the roster that we have is tremendous. I’m looking forward to sneak-peaking these fights backstage. I’m also gonna have my head right. I’m gonna focus on my fight. But there’s gonna be some stuff that you're not going to want to miss.”
Speaking of the Ramos-Lopez fight on the undercard, Thurman, 33, said, “Somebody’s gonna need a doctor after the fight.”
Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) believes the competitive, come-forward nature of his colleagues will, together with his own fight, make for an attractive entertainment package worthy of its cost.
“I want my fight to be the best fight of the night, but I can’t guarantee that on this card, OK?” Thurman said. “I can’t guarantee that. I’m gonna put on a terrific performance, but I can’t guarantee that it will be the fight of the night because you just have great fights throughout the night. This is not your average pay-per-view. This is not where you’re just buying Floyd Mayweather. This is not just where you’re buying one fight. It's a stacked card, and when you take that into [consideration], I think you’ll understand why we are asking $75 for this pay-per-view.
“This is just a night of boxing that fight fans are not going to want to miss. Anybody that wants to shake up their nights of COVID every night, they want to keep it safe, they don't want to go to the club, they don't want to be out, buy the fight. Invite some friends over, make them give you $10, it’ll keep the burden away from you. Tell them to bring a pack of beer, get the fish and chips out. Whatever you need to do, man.”
Thurman will bring his more than two-and-a-half year layoff to a close when he fights Barrios. His last fight was a close points loss to Manny Pacquiao in July 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The 26-year-old Barrios, a native of San Antonio, is coming off an 11th-round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis in their 140-pound WBA title bout last year at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.