Santa Cruz wants Mayweather to fight Thurman in September

By Boxing News - 06/01/2015 - Comments

thurman5By Chris Williams: WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz is hoping that Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) faces WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs) for his final fight of his pro career in September, even though it would be a step down for Mayweather due to him holding the WBA Super World welterweight title.

Thurman holds the WBA regular 147lb title. Santa Cruz likes Thurman’s toughness and punching power, and he feels he would give Mayweather a hard fight if he were to be the guy that faced him.

The 26-year-old Thurman kind of unwisely took himself out the Mayweather lottery by choosing to face the aging former WBA 147lb champion Luis Collazo (36-6, 19 KOs) on July 11th in Tampa, Florida. It was a bumbling move by Thurman because he should have waited to find out if he could get the Mayweather fight.

By taking Collazo, who was recently beaten by Amir Khan, Thurman won’t have enough time to get ready for a fight against Mayweather in September. Mayweather needs to pick out his opponent for his next fight at least three months ahead of time, and that leaves out Thurman because he has the 34-year-old Collazo that he’s scheduled to fight in July.

“I think he [Mayweather] should fight Keith Thurman,” Santa Cruz said to Figthype. “He’s one of the fighters that can give him a tough fight. I don’t see anyone beating Mayweather. He’s going to retire undefeated and nobody is going to beat him.”

Thurman is certainly a better option for Mayweather than him facing Khan or the recently exposed Danny Garcia.

The best option for Mayweather is for him to wait until the winner of the Shawn Porter vs. Adrien Broner fight emerges from their June 20th fight. If Broner wins, then Mayweather faces him in September. If Porter wins, then Mayweather continues to look for an opponent. Porter isn’t popular enough for Mayweather to get much from fighting him. Mayweather needs someone that bring in the fans. Broner would fulfill that requirement due to his ability to bring in fans.

Mayweather would really shock the boxing world if he were to face Gennady Golovkin, the WBA middleweight champion. If Mayweather were to show that he’s willing to face Golovkin, it would make WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and former WBA/WBC 154 pound champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez look bad because neither of them has been willing to get inside the ring with Golovkin.



Comments are closed.