Italian Olympian Leonard Bundu is the only opponent to step in the ring with both Keith Thurman and Errol Spence.

In December of 2014, Bundu was dropped in the first round and went on to lose a twelve round unanimous decision at the hands of Thurman, who now holds the WBC, WBA welterweight titles.

Last August, Bundu was dominated and knocked out cold in six rounds by Spence in a final IBF eliminator. That victory earned Spence the right to challenger IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook - and that fight takes place this Saturday night at Bramall Lane in Sheffield.

Bundu explained that Thurman caught him in the very first round and dropped him when he got close, but he was unable to get close to Thurman for the rest of the fight.

Rather than brawl or pursue a knockout, Thurman used his legs and simply outboxed Bundu for a one-sided decision win. All three judges scored it 120-107. In analyzing his two past opponents, Bundu believes Thurman is the faster fighter.  

“Thurman surprised me in our fight. I was expecting more of a close quarters battle. I did get close to him in the first round but he knocked me down straight away! He’s got very good legs and he uses the ring really well. He wasn’t easy to hit at all. I would favour him over Spence," Bundu told Boxing News.

"Thurman is almost complete – he can box very well, he’s a big puncher and he’s a little bit faster.  Spence is not slow by any means but I could see most of his punches. Thurman could be slightly disadvantaged if Spence was able to get into close range – I think Thurman works best at medium to long range, where he can get more speed and power on his punches. He’s got the style and power however to take advantage of Spence’s openings.”

Spence did score a vicious looking knockout over Bundu, and the Italian veteran was able to take Thurman the full twelve - although Thurman was never really trying to get Bundu out of there.

That said, Bundu explains why Thurman is the harder hitter of the two.

“Although Spence knocked me out and I went twelve rounds with Thurman, I think Thurman is the bigger puncher. Spence is heavy-handed but Thurman has that snap. Clearly Spence can turn your lights out if he lands clean. But I felt shockwaves through my arms whenever I blocked Thurman’s punches. He’s definitely got more snap on his shots," Bundu said.