Idle for a career-long 30 months due to injuries and happenstance, former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman successfully returned his name among boxing’s elite at 147 pounds on Saturday.
Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) boxed intelligently and landed the harder shots throughout to cut and outpoint Mario Barrios inside Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The three judges in the Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view main event were unanimous in favor of Thurman by scores of 117-111 and 118-110 (twice). CBS Sports also had it 118-110 for Thurman.
“It felt good. I still felt a little ring rust in there but it was amazing,” Thurman said. “I had a great opponent and he learned from his last outing and [so did I]. I’m just so grateful to everybody that got me to this position and I’m looking forward to a big year. 2022, baby!”
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CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday, so be sure to follow along with the live results and highlights below. Thanks for stopping by.
Fight card, results
- Keith Thurman def. Mario Barrios via unanimous decision (117-111, 118-110, 118-110)
- Leo Santa Cruz def. Keenan Carbajal via unanimous decision (100-90, 100-90, 100-90)
- Jesus Ramos def. Vladimir Hernandez via sixth-round knockout
- Luis Nery vs. Carlos Castro via split decision (94-95, 95-94, 96-93)
- Luke Santamaria def. Abel Ramos via unanimous decision (96-94, 96-94, 98-92)
Thurman vs. Barrios scorecard, live coverage
| Thurman | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 118 |
| Barrios | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 110 |