Keith Thurman’s dismissal of Sebastian Fundora’s power makes his own performance harder to explain. If the punches were only “medium,” as Thurman insists, the unanswered question is why he couldn’t produce enough offense to keep the referee out of their fight.

“Medium. Medium, bro,” Thurman said to Brian Custer. “Like, I mean, come on. He never knocked me down.” Thurman’s defense of his performance rests heavily on that distinction: Fundora stopped him, but never put him on the floor.

Thurman rejected Fundora’s comment, relayed by Brian, that the referee had saved him from further punishment. He said a second-round counter pushed him downward because of Fundora’s height, rather than buckling his legs, and maintained that he could handle the punches.

“I’ve been in the ring with a lot of punchers, you know? I mean, at welterweight, Manny Pacquiao, Danny Garcia,” Thurman said. “It was medium. I could take that all day.”

That comparison draws on Thurman’s championship past, but his experience against established punchers cannot settle whether he was defending himself effectively against Fundora. His own description of the fight supplies a more revealing explanation than the power rating.

Thurman said Fundora’s height and reach were more difficult to deal with than he expected. Tall sparring partners had not fully prepared him for the distance he encountered, and he was still adjusting when the referee intervened.

Fundora did not need every punch to hurt Thurman badly if his reach and output kept Thurman occupied with protecting himself.

Thurman wanted more time, saying he had moved toward the middle of the ring and was beginning to feel comfortable defensively. He believed the decision should have remained with him and his corner.

“I just wish the ref would have used his eyes a little bit more and let me and my team make the decision, man,” Thurman said. “Like, if we get into the eighth round and it’s not getting any better, so be it. But I was determined to take the young man’s punches. It wasn’t really my night. My hands were not going.”

Thurman weakens his own argument by admitting he wasn’t throwing back. Being able to take Fundora’s punches wasn’t enough. He needed to answer them, and the referee didn’t have to wait for a knockdown to intervene.

Thurman also blamed an awkward weight cut and acknowledged a poor performance. Those explanations might account for his struggles, but they don’t explain why he believes more rounds would have changed anything.

Thurman had more to say when he discussed Fundora’s height, reach, and punch output. He admitted he couldn’t get comfortable against them. Calling Fundora’s power “medium” does nothing to explain why he couldn’t get past those advantages and land his own shots.

That version of the Fundora loss gives Golden Boy and DAZN something to sell: Thurman was still adjusting, his chin held up, and the referee denied him a chance to turn things around. It makes Ortiz sound like he’s facing a dangerous veteran whose right hand could punish a mistake. The harder sell is explaining how Thurman will land that punch after admitting he couldn’t get his offense going against Fundora.