Undefeated welterweight prospect Keith Thurman could face former IBF titleholder Jan Zaveck on March 9 in a WBO elimination bout for the right to face titleholder Tim Bradley.
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Thurman-Zaveck on Hopkins-Cloud card
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Unbeaten welterweight prospect Keith Thurman, of Clearwater, Fla., could face Slovenian ex-beltholder Jan Zaveck on the undercard of the HBO-televised Bernard Hopkins-Tavoris Cloud light heavyweight title bout on March 9 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer informed RingTV.com on Tuesday. Thurman (19-0, 18 knockouts) is coming off a fourth-round stoppage of former WBO 147-pound beltlholder Carlos Quintana that took place on Nov. 24 -- the day after Thurman's 24th birthday. The rugged Zaveck (32-2, 18 KOs), who turns 37 in March, was last in the the ring in March of last year when he unanimously decisioned Bethuel Ushona. Prior to Ushona, Zaveck was dethroned as IBF beltholder by Andre Berto, who stopped him in five rounds in September of 2011. Thurman-Zaveck is being targeted as a WBO title eliminator bout for the right to face beltholder Tim Bradley. Bradley is scheduled to defend his title against Ruslan Provodnikov on March 16.
In the March 9 main event, Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs), who is 48, could extend his own record as the oldest man to win a significant crown, a feat the Philadelphia native accomplished at the age of 46 with a unanimous decision over Jean Pascal for the WBC and RING light heavyweight belts in May of last year. Hopkins was last in the ring in April, where he lost a majority decision to RING and WBC champion Chad Dawson. Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs), who turned 31 last month, is looking to make the fifth defense of his belt and is coming off a controversial split-decision victory over Gabriel Campillo in February of last year.
Photos by Naoki Fukuda |