Keith Thurman Underwent Surgery For Left Hand, Will Return In 2020
Former unified welterweight champion won’t be fighting for the remainder of 2019 after undergoing yet another surgery.
First reported by Kevin Iole, Thurman had surgery on his left hand on September 4 to help alleviate the pain he has suffered from there for years after hitting a speed bag. Thurman hopes that he will be back in the ring fully healthy in early 2020.
Thurman was advised to have surgery on the injured hand and that resting it won’t be enough. The procedure was done by Dr. Jontahan Oheb, an orthopaedic surgeon from Encino, California. The surgery is just the latest in a long list of injuries that has kept Thurman out of the ring for the majority of the past 30 months.
“The surgery was a bone fusion, so they fused some of my metacarpals,” Thurman told Iole. “There is not an issue with my fingers or the knuckles that I make a fist with. It feels so much better now. Right after surgery, it was quite painful with a lot of initial swelling. Right now, it feels good and it’s not swollen as it was. I’m not on any pain meds or anything.”
After Thurman defeated Danny Garcia to unify the WBA and WBC titles back in March 2017, Thurman did not fight for the remainder of 2017 after undergoing surgery on his left elbow. Thurman was originally slated to come back in the first half of 2018, but his return was further delayed after still not being fully healthy, eventually vacating his WBC title.
Returning this January as the WBA “Super” champion, Thurman beat Josesito Lopez in his first fight in nearly two full years. His last fight was a pay-per-view bout against Manny Pacquiao in July that Pacquiao won by unanimous decision.
