By Dan Ambrose: WBA “regular” welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) got heated during an interview on Saturday at the mere mention of undefeated No.8 WBA 147lb contender Errol Spence (17-0, 14 KOs), who many boxing fans see as the future of the welterweight division.
Thurman got heated when asked if he was going to fight the talented 25-year-old Spence. Instead of saying that he’ll fight him, Thurman suggested that Spence should fight the Top Rank promoted Diego Chaves or fight two other guys that he’s beaten during his career. Thurman then said that he would negotiate to fight Spence if he could get a guarantee that he if wins, he’ll get a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Mayweather recently asked Thurman through the media to fight Spence on his September 12th undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather said he would put up one of his two welterweight titles for Thurman and Spence to fight over. Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe later said that he feels that Spence is a better fighter than Thurman, and that he doesn’t rate a fight against Mayweather.
Ellerbe also suggested that Thurman fight Spence. However, Thurman doesn’t want to fight Spence. He feels that a fight against someone like Amir Khan would be a much bigger fight than a fight against Spence, which is obviously true. Fighting Khan clearly would be a bigger fight than facing Spence. The problem is there isn’t a Khan fight for Thurman, and there probably won’t be a for a long, long time, if ever.
“He’s [Khan] a good fighter. He’s a great fight for the name,” Thurman said to the media about Amir Khan. “He’s a great fight for the fans. There are plenty of people who think Amir Khan has all the skills and talent to expose Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman. And let’s be honest, Amir Khan has more to offer than Errol Spence. What does he have to offer? Absolutely nothing. How about I stand behind someone and get Floyd to fight that person because I feel like he’s saying something. I’d rather put my own fist in his mouth. Why am I going to fight somebody [Errol Spence] who doesn’t deserve to fight at this time? It’s just not logical. If I should fight a fighter because someone just states that I should, then how come he [Mayweather[ doesn’t fight me, because I’ve been stating since the day I hit HBO that I want Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather. The day I knocked out a nobody and called out a somebody, how come that somebody [Mayweather] doesn’t fight me? But this kid [Spence] knocks out a nobody [Phil Lo Greco] and is calling out a somebody [Thurman], but I should take that. If you make me work, let him [Spence] fight Diego Chaves, let him fight one or two fighters that I fought, and then let’s really have this real conversation,” Thurman said.
Thurman doesn’t seem to realize that he’s not calling the shots as far as Mayweather goes. He’s the B-side player. The reason why Mayweather can ask Thurman to fight someone like Spence is because he’s the A-side, and if Thurman wants a chance at fighting Mayweather, then he kind of has to do whatever he asks. There’s obviously a chance that Mayweather won’t fight him even if he beats Spence, but he doesn’t know that.
There’s a possibility that Mayweather would fight him if he beat Spence. If Mayweather is asking Thurman to fight a certain fighter, then it would be smart for Thurman to fight that guy if he wants a chance to fight Mayweather. But by Thurman flat out rejecting the Spence fight, not only does he look scared in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans, but he also has shut the door on a fight against Mayweather. I’m not sure that Thurman understands what he’s done by rejecting the Spence fight.
If Mayweather has asked him to fight Spence, then it looks real bad for Spence to say no to the fight. It looks even worse for him to turn around and start badgering and pressuring Mayweather for a fight in the same way that Khan has been doing. It comes across to some fans that Thurman is begging for the Mayweather fight, and trying to jump in front of the line to get the fight without having to work for it the hard way. Mayweather told Thurman that he needs to fight Spence, and if he’s not willing to do what he’s asking him to do, then it means that Thurman wants the easy path to Mayweather. I’m afraid that’s not going to work out well for him.
“Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence, what his name is, if you’re the truth, I speak the truth,” said Thurman. “I got no problem fighting you. You, me, Al [Haymon], we can all sit down at a table. I got no problem fighting you. Bring your uncle Floyd, and let’s negotiate that the winner automatically fights him [Mayweather] so that he proves to the world that he will fight any undefeated fighter, not just Latino fighters, which have a certain style that he’s [Mayweather] accustomed to since the amateurs. Please stop with the questions because I’m getting heated, and I keep it real and I keep it honest. No more about Spence,” said Thurman.
It looked really bad for Thurman to ask the reporters to stop talking about Spence. Not only did Thurman ask to stop talking about him, but he also lost his cool. That could be interpreted by some to be a sign that Thurman is very worried about fighting Spence. You don’t lose your temper at the mention of someone you don’t feel is a threat to beating you. For Thurman, this is the second time that he’s blown a gasket at the mention of Spence’s name.
At the post-fight press conference after his win over the past his best Luis Collazo last June, Thurman got visibly angry after one of the reporters mentioned Spence’s name and asked him about fighting him. Thurman lost his cool and went on a long tirade that ended the press conference right there. If Thurman is going to lose control each and every time that Spence’s name is mentioned by the media, then that has to be seen as a sign that Thurman is afraid of Spence and what he represents. Spence is seen as the future of the welterweight division, and Mayweather himself believes he’d beat Thurman. It looks bad for Thurman to be losing his cool each time Spence’s name is mentioned, and it looks really bad that he refuses to fight him, even when a victory might give him a big money fight against Mayweather.
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