By Allan Fox: WBA welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) says he would like to fight former two division world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs), because he sees him as a guy that is a big cash cow in the sport. Thurman didn’t mention Gennady Golovkin as someone he would like to fight when he moves up in weight.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya recently said that Golovkin wasn’t as talented as Thurman because he couldn’t fight going backwards. If Thurman is more talented than Golovkin, then this would be a good opportunity for Thurman to prove it if Golovkin is still around when Thurman does eventually move up in weight.
For Thurman to get a fight against Canelo, he will likely need to become a huge name in his own right, and he’ll also need to be a little more stationary.
Golden Boy Promotions likely won’t match Canelo against Thurman if they think he’ll need to chase him around the ring like many of Thurman’s opponents are forced to do.
Thurman needs to prove that he can fight in the pocket like superstars Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao did during their careers. Thurman fights more like Erislandy Lara than Pacquiao or Mayweather. Canelo already fought Lara in 2014, and had a tough time chasing him for 12 rounds. It’s doubtful that Canelo will want to fight another mover in the Lara mold like Thurman.
Thurman, 27, says he would like to move up to 154lb in the future to fight the likes of Canelo and Demetrius Andrade. Thurman in particular would like to fight Andrade, as he beat him when the two of them were in the amateur ranks. However, Thurman sees a fight against Andrade being a $1 million fight when the two of them face each other.
That’s not a lot of money compared to the kind of money that guys like Canelo and Miguel Cotto get for their fights. However, Thurman has yet to build a large fan base. He’s trying to accomplish that slowly, but it takes time to do that when you’re fighting guys like Luis Collazo, Jesus Soto Karass and Diego Chaves instead of the bigger names.
Thurman will be fighting this month against Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) on June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“I will never be fighting Demetrius Andrade ever again for free,” Thurman said to Fighthub.com. “And when we do fight you’re looking at a minimum of a seven-figure payday…I would possibly move up, I can’t say anytime soon, not this year, not next year, but sometime in the future there’s a possibility of me moving up. I would love a fight possibly with Canelo Alvarez since he’s one of the cash cows of that division. Outside of that, I would love a rematch with Andrade to take that amateur rivalry and throw down as pros.”
Thurman may have to move up in the future as he gets older and puts on weight. Right now, the 5’7” Thurman is still able to make the 147lb limit. He’s not a very big guy. However, he might need to move up in weight to 154lb to get the bigger fights. When he does that, it’s going to be tough if he has to fight guys with huge size advantages over him like the Charlo brothers, Lara and Demetrius Andrade.
The quickest way for Thurman to become a big star in the sport would be for him to take risks with his career by taking fights against guys from 140 to 160. Thurman could become a huge start quickly if he were willing to fight these guys: Viktor Postol, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr., Jermell Charlo, Jermall Charlo, Erislandy Lara, Gennady Golovkin, David Lemieux, Billy Joe Saunders, Chris Eubank Jr., Andy Lee, Canelo Alvarez and Tureano Johnson.
If Thurman were willing to stop playing it safe with his career, he could become star in a hurry. Unfortunately, the way Thurman’s career is being conducted, I don’t see him ever becoming a huge star. I think he’ll lag and remain just a champion but not a popular guy due to the way he fights and because of the lack of talented guys he tends to fight.