Keith Thurman calls out Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 07/21/2016 - Comments

Image: Keith Thurman calls out Pacquiao

By Chris Williams: In a clear sign that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is focused on matching his fighter Manny Pacquiao with one of his own Top Rank stable guys for his next fight on November 5, unbeaten WBA World welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) has called Pacquiao out for his next fight, but there doesn’t appear to be any interest in him as an opponent. Thurman is the Gennady “GGG” Golovkin of the welterweight division in my view. Having Pacquiao fight Thurman is a MUCH bigger fight than throwing the Filipino fighter in with the rail thin Terence Crawford or Viktor Postol. Having Pacquiao fight Postol or Crawford is pretty much another Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley 3 time of fight.

There apparently is no interest in having Thurman as Pacquiao’s next opponent, which is sad because I think Thurman would be a great opponent for Pacquiao. Arum is interested in matching Pacquiao against one of his Top Rank fighters: Terence Crawford, Jessie Vargas or Viktor Postol.

I think Thurman would KO all three of those guys without any problems. Thurman is said to be willing to accept the $4 million that was turned down by WBC middleweight champion Danny Garcia for the fight against Pacquiao. Arum says that no offer was made to Garcia for the Pacquiao fight, but we have Garcia reportedly saying he wasn’t interested in the offer.


Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach says he likes the idea of a Thurman vs. Pacquiao. However, Roach doesn’t call the shots for the Filipino fighter. Arum is the one that picks Pacquiao’s opponents, and he has narrowed it down to three of his own Top Rank fighters for his next fight.

“It’s a good fight, I like Thurman – he’s a good fighter, tough guy. That’s a fight I would definitely say yes to, no problem,” said Roach to Fighthub.com about Thurman being the next opponent for Pacquiao. ”Bob hasn’t offered me that fight yet, though. So no word from Bob at least, but Thurman – thanks for coming out.”

There it is. Arum hasn’t mentioned Thurman as an opponent for Pacquiao, and you have to wonder why. Thurman isn’t one of Arum’s fighters in his Top Rank stable, and he’s very, very dangerous. In my opinion, Thurman – and Shawn Porter – both beat Pacquiao every day of the week. I think they both beat Pacquiao easily, because his style is perfect for them.

“Where else in the world can either of those guys make $4M at least?” said Roach about Adrien Broner and Danny Garcia wanting more money to fight Pacquiao. “They’re scared of Manny, that’s all there is to it. So we’re getting closer and closer to an opponent right now and if Crawford wins this fight he could be the next one of course, but if Postol [wins] I’ll keep Postol at 140 and Manny will stay at 147.”

So if Garcia and Broner more money than what’s being offered for a fight against Pacquiao, then that means they’re scared? I don’t think so, Roach. How can you blame Broner and Garcia for wanting to get paid well for a fight against Pacquiao?

I don’t know what kind of cut that Arum would want for them to agree to for a Pacquiao fight, but you can’t blame Broner and Garcia for wanting to get a nice payday against Pacquiao. If the money that they’re going to get isn’t a significantly more than what they usually get for their fights, then you can’t blame them for not being agreeable to the lesser money.