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Thurman-Porter postponed after Thurman injured in car accident

Fighters Network
22
Feb

Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter

Keith Thurman’s welterweight title bout with Shawn Porter on March 12 has been postponed after Thurman was hurt in a car accident and suffered a neck injury, the promoter of the show, Lou DiBella told RingTV.com in a phone interview on Monday night. Thurman’s injuries are not considered serious, and he is expected to resume training after he is reevaluated in 4-6 weeks, DiBella said.

Thurman was driving on wet road conditions when the accident took place a little over a week ago, according to DiBella, who said the force of the air bag in his car being deployed forced his neck to jerk forward, causing whiplash- or a neck strain. Thurman didn’t feel any severe soreness initially, DiBella said.

He passed a battery of tests that included a CAT scan and an MRI and felt well enough to spar on Saturday but soon felt soreness in his neck in the course of the sparring session, DiBella said. A conference call involving Thurman and Porter for Feb. 17 was rescheduled to give Thurman time to rest after the accident, DiBella said. Thurman will now rest 4-6 weeks and receive physical therapy in that time.



“He didn’t realize at first- it was sort of a delayed reaction,” DiBella said. “He went to spar Saturday and his neck sort of froze up- he said that getting hit by the air bag in the accident was harder than he’d ever been hit by a punch. He had whiplash. It was not a high-speed accident. The air bag deployed and it was the deployment of the air bag that hurt him.”

The highly-anticipated bout for Thurman’s WBA welterweight title was the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions show on CBS primetime at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The fight and the network broadcast will now be rescheduled for a later date.

The entities involved are now discussing whether to move forward with the card on March 12 with possibly Gary Russell Jr. defending his WBC featherweight title against Patrick Hyland in the main event of a Showtime tripleheader that also includes featherweights Abner Mares vs. Fernando Montiel and a light heavyweight bout between Edwin Rodriguez vs. Thomas Williams.

“We’re talking right now about keeping the show alive and shifting it to Showtime,” DiBella said. “So we’re working on it right now.”

As for when the bout between Thurman and Porter eventually takes place, DiBella was hopeful Thurman has a speedy recovery. “Thurman wants to start training as soon as he’s cleared to train,” DiBella said. “He said they told him probably 4-6 weeks of no hard boxing and physical therapy so I don’t know. He’s got to go back and see the doctor again. But there’s nothing broken. He got banged up a little bit and got whiplash.”

In an earlier release announcing the postponement, DiBella spoke of the heightened expectations that existed for a bout the public was looking forward to. “While it’s unfortunate that we must temporarily postpone this marquee matchup, a main event of the magnitude of Thurman vs. Porter requires both fighters be healthy and at their best,” he said. “Keith is anxious to resume training as soon he is able and both he and Shawn are looking forward to a new fight date.”

 

 

 

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