Keith Thurman: 'We're going for the knockout' of Shawn Porter on Saturday

It was the old black-and-white pictures of boxers taped to the walls of head custodian Ben Getty's cramped office at Belleair (Fla.) Elementary School that first intrigued seven-year-old Keith Thurman.

So when Getty, a short, stocky Italian man the kids called "Ben Spaghetti," started an afterschool YMCA boxing program by putting on a boxing exhibition, young Thurman was all in.

"Ben, being an older guy, a Vietnam veteran, you could always tell there was a lot of history there," Thurman, now 27, said by phone recently. "It was amazing to know he worked side-by-side with Sugar Ray Leonard. He was a strength and conditioning coach.

"One thing Ben was really good at was strength and conditioning. He helped me develop my strength and my power, and taught me how to utilize it."

So, beginning at age seven it was a team - Getty the mentor, Thurman the eager student, blazing through the amateur boxing program together.

"Ben had 1988 USA bronze medalist Kenny Gould and he used to tell me all about him growing up, and what it means to compete in the Olympics," Thurman says. "That was our main goal growing up in the amateurs together. He had our eyes set on the Olympic Games. We made it to the (2008) Olympic trials and lost in the finals (at 152 pounds) to Demetrius Andrade on points."

Getty and Thurman were together for 117 amateur fights and nine professional fights before the trainer died unexpectedly in 2009, a devastating blow to then 20-year-old Thurman.

"It was really emotional," Thurman said. "Luckily for me, I was heavily into philosophy and world religions, and I was learning a lot about different peoples' outlooks on life and death during that time. With my own personal faith, I came to the conclusion that God loves me too much to take away something that important in my life. . . . I couldn't question whether it was the right move. It had to be.

"I came to the conclusion that the only reason Ben Getty was allowed to pass away is because he had already created a world champion. Ben was suffering from Agent Orange. He also was a diabetic. So life for Ben was not easy on a day-to-day basis. Ben was prescribed 1000 milligrams of morphine daily. Being really close to Ben, knowing his problems, his struggles, it would be hard for him to be here. He would have loved to be here, and I would have loved for him to be here. But it wouldn't have been easy for him. He was in a lot of pain.

"So I understood he had to go, but I truly believe that he taught me everything he needed to teach me to be the champion that I was going to be."

The day after Getty died, Thurman called Dan Birmingham and asked if he would take over. Birmingham, who trained former champion Winky Wright for 24 years and has known Thurman since childhood, said yes and they have been together ever since.

"I had confidence on Ben's passing that I'm prepared to make my dreams come true and his dreams come true, which has always been to create a champion from scratch," Thurman says. And Ben truly did that with me. Dan recognizes it. He doesn't deny that Ben Getty is the one who put all the work into me, and he says all the time that Ben made his job very easy."

Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs), nicknamed "One Time" for his natural knockout power, became a world champion on March 7, 2015, when he defeated Robert Guerrero in a WBA welterweight title fight in the network debut of Premier Boxing Champions on NBC.

He will defend that title for the second time on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., against former champion Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) in a highly anticipated PBC megafight on CBS (9 p.m. ET). It's the first fight on CBS in prime time since Leon Spinks upset Muhammad Ali in their first fight in 1978.

As always, Getty will be on Thurman's mind when he faces Porter.

Keith Thurman works out for the media in early June. (Photo by Ryan Greene, PBC)

"Every single time I get ready for a fight I think of him," Thurman says. "That's why I honor him by wearing his name on my trunks. He's always going to be a part of my boxing style."

Birmingham says what sets Thurman apart, aside from his devastating one-punch power, is that Thurman is a student of the game.

"If you know Keith and have had any long conversations with him, he can elaborate on anything from music to philosophy. It just so happens he's a fighter," Birmingham says. "He knows himself, too."

Though they have different fighting styles, Birmingham notes that one thing Wright, who retired in 2012, and Thurman have in common is very good eyes. "They know how to read their opponents. They read well and react well," Birmingham says. "They almost know what their opponent is going to do before they actually do it."

When Birmingham took over Thurman's career, he told the fighter the one thing he needed to work on was his boxing skills.

"I told him we're going to fight out of a rhythm, we're going to box more, we're not just going to come straight ahead," Birmingham said. "So in that regard, he's using his feints, he's doing all the little things now, stepping to the side, tying up, everything that a good boxer does."

Truth be told, Getty had little use for boxing. He hated when Thurman would move around the ring and try to box more instead of throwing punches, something Thurman obviously excels in.

Thurman, left, and Porter face off in Brooklyn this week. Photo by Esther Lin, Showtime)

"Ben used to always say, 'You're wasting energy, boy. Sit down and throw punches. Stop moving so much. You're making yourself tired,' " Thurman says with a laugh. "And to a degree, he was right. You watch a boxer versus a puncher, the puncher applies pressure, the boxer has to move around the ring and it's a lot more work to use your legs in that nature and to put your hands together."

The long-awaited Thurman-Porter matchup was originally scheduled for March 12, but Thurman crashed his brand-new Shelby GT 350 muscle car on a rain-slicked road in his hometown of Clearwater, Fla. on Feb. 22. He hydroplaned, lost control and suffered a neck injury from whiplash.

His doctor told him he was not fit to fight less than three weeks later so Thurman did what he had to do and postponed the fight.

Porter's dad and trainer, Kenny Porter, was initially skeptical and said he needed proof of the injury. Birmingham believes that was unfair to Thurman.

"He's not going to fake an injury. He's a fighter. Fighters don't fake an injury. They want to fight and they want to get paid," Birmingham said. "All the talk isn't going to mean anything when the bell rings."

By the time that bell rings, it will have been almost a year since Thurman last fought, a victory against Luis Collazo last July in Tampa. It's not his first long period of inactivity. He did not fight at all in 2011 and was sidelined for nearly 14 months with an injured left hand.

It's been even longer for Porter, who has not fought since his unanimous decision victory against Adrien Broner last June. Porter ultimately came to look at the delay as a blessing to give him more time to prepare.

"When you've been doing it for 20 years, man, it ain't nothing," Thurman said. "It's not like I picked up the gloves yesterday. We were in training camp and had an injury and then went back into training camp."

Thurman and Porter have known each other since they were teenagers. Porter once was a sparring partner for Thurman, so there will be familiarity in the ring.

"We're ready for this fight. Keith trains hard every day and we know Shawn and Kenny well," Birmingham says. "I've brought them to my gym and these two guys have gone a lot of rounds together."

Thurman expects his opponent to come forward, exert pressure and try to fight inside to avoid Thurman's power as best as he can. Thurman's boxing skills will no doubt come into play early, as will his punching power.

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"We'll see how long he'll be able to try to bully me, possibly, or how many counters he's going to take before he hears a little voice in the back of his head saying, 'you shouldn't have jumped in.' " Thurman says. "That's the point of a counter(punch) in the first place. Send a message and make your opponent a little timid. I know Shawn's going to do his best to be ferocious, but we're prepared. It's going to be a great fight."

Thurman knows that whatever happens, Ben Getty's voice will be in his head for the biggest fight of his career.

"Whenever I step in the ring, I look at it like my life's on the line. This is everything I worked for," he said. "I can hear Ben Getty saying, 'The time is now. This is what you've worked for your whole career, on this kind of stage on this platform, all you need is a terrific performance and give the people a reason to love you'."

Birmingham expects Team Thurman to adjust their style to whatever works best for this fight.

"Really, what is going to work best is just Keith being Keith. Working off his jab, working the body strongly, on the inside, just taking advantage of opportunities," he says, adding they have much respect for Porter's power.

"He's a very strong fighter. He was a world champion, you have to respect that power. I'm confident in Keith's movement and defense and counterpunching," Birmingham says.

Ultimately, it will likely come down to power vs. power.

"We're going for the knockout," Thurman says. "We're going to make this an exciting fight, and make a statement at 147 on how devastating Keith Thurman really is. So it's a great opportunity. It's been in the works for a long time and I'm really excited to make this happen."

(Photo of Thurman, at top against Robert Guerrero, by Harry How, Getty Images)