Keith Thurman prepared to remind critics of his greatness after second lengthy absence from the ring

In a moment of a self-reflection, Keith Thurman can admit the last five years of his career have gone in a direction that was anything but planned or expected.  

One shouldn’t allow his penchant for speaking in the third person to distract from the fact that Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) is capable of producing such an honest critique regarding the highs and lows of a pro career that began in 2007. 

In March 2017, Thurman appeared to have it all. He had just unified welterweight titles by edging unbeaten Danny Garcia and was one fight removed from a career-defining victory over Shawn Porter in a 12-round thriller on national television. At 28, Thurman had the best active resume of the post Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao era in boxing’s money division at 147 pounds.  

That’s when things began to fall apart.  

Thurman sat out nearly two years due to multiple injuries and returned in 2019 to stave off near disaster against Josesito Lopez in a comeback fight where he was badly hurt. Six months later, Thurman dropped a split decision against Manny Pacquiao in their pay-per-view blockbuster.  

The fact that Thurman produced one of his finest performances to date in his lone pro defeat was somewhat hidden by him being dropped by the 40-year-old living legend. The subsequent layoff that followed it, as the combination of more injuries, a pandemic and the birth of his first child saw Thurman sit idle for 30 additional months entering this weekend’s return, created even more questions about his uncertain future.  

Thurman, now 33, enters yet another comeback fight on Saturday in a Premier Boxing Champions PPV clash against Mario Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs) at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas (FOX PPV, 9 p.m. ET) as somewhat of a forgotten man as current titleholders Errol Spence Jr. (WBC, IBF) and Terence Crawford (WBO) have made the division their own in Thurman’s absence. The third 147-pound…