Keith Thurman vs. Diego Chaves

The AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas is the site for Saturday’s WBA interim title fight between unbeaten Keith Thurman and unbeaten Diego Chaves. The winner of the fight will get a shot at WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner. Let’s take a look at this fight that can be seen on Showtime on Saturday night.

Unbeaten Fighters

Thurman comes into this fight with a record of 20-0 with 18 knockouts while Chaves is 22-0 with 18 knockouts. Thurman has looked good lately with wins over Jan Zaveck, Carlos Quintana and Orlando Lora. Chaves doesn’t have the resume of Thurman but he still has never lost.

There are questions about both fighters but at least Thurman has beaten some fighters of note. You can make a case that Chaves hasn’t beaten anyone who is any good. Chaves has done most of his fighting in Argentina and there is no question he has propped up his record by fighting a bunch of fighters who are completely unknown. You can probably make a case that Chaves isn’t even as good as the last three fighters that Thurman beat. But in reality we simply don’t know because Chaves hasn’t fought anyone of note. Chaves is simply a wild card. He has power but whether that power is enough to give Thurman trouble is unknown. It seems unlikely but you never want to totally throw out the chances of someone like Chaves who is unbeaten.

Boxing Odds and Predictions

Thurman is favored to win this fight and he should get the job done. He will likely be able to hurt Chaves with some early shots and finish him off before the fight goes the distance. The only concern is if Thurman gets reckless and Chaves does have some real power. It seems unlikely that Chaves has the ability to hurt Thurman but we simply don’t know. The most likely scenario has Thurman winning this by knockout in the middle rounds.