KEITH THURMAN

“This is my dream coming true. Ben Getty believed in me before I knew that I had the ability to become a champion. He said that I was destined for greatness. He made me dedicate myself to the sport of boxing.

“I knew that today would be the day I accomplish my dreams. People know I fought my way up the amateurs. This was the first time I fought a real undefeated fighter and I demonstrated my skills tonight. I made my team proud.

“You’re not just fighting your opponent sometimes, you’re fighting the judges. They have their own perspective. I know I was backing up and being defensive, I feel like a lot of Danny’s power punches were ineffective. I was controlling the fight from the outside. There were some rounds that I was dominating. I knew that I had pulled ahead. We felt like we definitely earned the victory tonight.

“There might have been one left hook to the body that he landed that I felt. But we know how to endure these punches. This isn’t just about out-boxing an opponent, you have to take a punch too. Danny was well-grounded and he had some awkward head movements. He’s a world class fighter. We just had to make adjustments.”

DANNY GARCIA
“It was a tough fight. I thought I came back strong. I thought I won the fight. It was close, but I thought I did enough to win.

“It is what it is. I can’t cry over anything, I’ll come back strong like a true champion. I would love to have a rematch to get my titles back.

“I knew running would be his game plan. Everyone knew that was his game plan. I thought I won and that’s it.”

ANGEL GARCIA
“Keith ran half the fight. Boxing is about hitting, not running. Danny tried to be the aggressor, but Keith was moving around too much.”

DAN BIRMINGHAM
“We knew we had the fight won. Keith was still scoring while he was backing up – sticking and moving.

“We know Danny is a great fighter and there was a lot of great back and forth, but Keith was the better man tonight.”