Fighting for the first time in 31 months, Keith Thurman mostly looked sharp in a unanimous-decision victory over Mario Barrios on Saturday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
The former unified welterweight champion from Clearwater, Florida, hurt Barrios on several occasions, but he never scored a knockdown. Complicating efforts to finish Barrios were the size of the gloves: Barrios didn't agree to fight in eight-ounce gloves, electing for 10 ounces.
The fight was Thurman's first since a July 2019 split-decision loss to future Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao. Afterward, Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) had surgery on his left hand.
He bruised one of the knuckles on that hand, he said, after connecting with a left uppercut on Saturday.
"We rocked him, [but] we weren't able to put him down and out," said Thurman, who owns wins over Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia. " ... I saw some fundamental mistakes; I saw him crossing his feet over and said, 'OK, I can treat this guy like one of my sparring partners and school him a little bit.'"
