After over three years of absence, Keith Thurman successfully returned to the ring on March 12 against Brock Jarvis. Battling it out in the main event at The Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, the former two-time champion from Clearwater, Florida, defeated the representative of the host country by knockout.
Thurman scored the first knockdown, dropping Jarvis with a big left uppercut that followed a series of heavy punches, starting with an overhand right. Jarvis managed to beat the count and get back on his feet but almost immediately went down for the second and final time, as Thurman was right back at him, landing a left hand. The super welterweight bout was officially over at 2:19 of the third round.
36-year-old Thurman, who entered the ring for the first time since defeating Mario Barrios by unanimous decision in February 2022, improved to 31-1 with 23 KOs and earned the WBA International title. Australia’s 27-year-old Jarvis dropped to 22-2 with 20 KOs, snapping his two-fight winning streak.
In the co-feature, Australia’s Michael Zerafa (33-5, 21 KOs) TKO’d Germany-based Besir Ay (19-2, 9 KOs) in the seventh round, claiming the vacant WBO Intercontinental title at middleweight. In another middleweight contest, Mexican-born, Australia-based Mateo Tapia (18-0-1, 11 KOs) TKO’d Sergey Vorobev (20-3-2, 14 KOs) in the fifth round to lift the vacant IBF Intercontinental strap.
Among other Thurman vs Jarvis results, Australia’s Kirra Ruston (5-0, 5 KOs) stopped Tonga Tongotongo (9-1, 9 KOs) from New Zealand in six rounds for the vacant Australian title at light heavyweight. Additionally, Jordan Martin (5-2, 4 KOs) defeated Sonny Knight (4-1, 3 KOs) by unanimous decision at super welterweight, with all three judges scoring it 39-37.