By Chris Williams: Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman says he’d like to challenge Terence Crawford or his WBO welterweight title in October, but he wants promoter Bob Arum out of the picture for that to happen.
Former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) hasn’t fought in two years since losing his WBA strap to Manny Pacquiao in 2017.
Not surprisingly, Thurman has no interest in working his way back into a world title shot the way normal fighters do.
Thurman isn’t adjusting well to being a contender, as he still thinks he’s calling the shots. His request that Crawford leaves Arum before he’ll fight him sounds like magical thinking.
‘One Time’ Thurman wants a world title shot to fall into his lap like gravity, like an apple falling from a tree. Thurman doesn’t want to work for it. He wants the title shot to be given to him passively, but unfortunately, he’s not in the position to make that happen.
Thurman still thinks he’s calling the shots
“I like great fights; I truly do. I don’t hate on a great fight and a great challenge. That’s what I live for in this sport,” said Keith Thurman to Fighthype. “So for me, a lot of it has to do with getting Bob [Arum] out of the picture.
“So my idea earlier in the year, Bob, I’m not a big fan of his. Crawford really needs to get away from that. The man [Arum] doesn’t even give credit to his own fighters.
“Do you know what I mean? What kind of promoter is that? He’s above the fighters that created his whole industry. You got to give respect where respect is due.
“He doesn’t respect his own fighters. So I have no interest. I have tons of interest in Crawford. I have an interest in the greatest fights at 147,” said Thurman.
Keith will need to take the fight with Crawford any way he can get it and stop setting up conditions to take the fight. Thurman isn’t in the position to call the shots. So if he wants the fight, he’ll have to fight Crawford while he’s still with Arum or not at all.
If Thurman wants $10 million for the Crawford fight, he needs to forget about that idea too. If Thurman is lucky, he might get $4 million, but it’s more realistic for him to receive $2 million.
Crawford’s contract with Arum’s Top Rank promotional company is supposed to end in October, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll leave them.
For Crawford, 33, to leave Arum, he’d have to believe that the grass will be greener elsewhere with PBC, Matchroom Boxing, or Golden Boy Promotions.
But with Arum blaring how he lost enough money on Crawford’s fights to purchase a house in Beverly Hills, California, he may have scared off any potential takers. As the saying goes, ‘All that’s glitters isn’t gold.’
Yeah, Crawford has excellent boxing skills, but he’s not great at promoting his fights, and his style inside the ring scares away the big names.
Crawford is a switch-hitting southpaw counter-puncher who has excellent mobility and possesses good punching power.
If you’re a promoter for another fighter, the last thing you want to do is let your guy fight a guy like Crawford, particularly when the money wouldn’t be life-changing.
Keith wants Crawford fight in October
“It’s Thurman vs. everybody to make the best fights at 147,” said Thurman. “I’m definitely interested in it [fight with Crawford], but you got to take Bob out of the picture.
“If that means October or sometime later this year, we might be able to start talking about a Crawford fight,” said Thurman.
It’s not realistic that Thurman will get a title shot against Crawford, given his requirements for that to happen. However, if Thurman got off his high horse and realize that he’s no longer in a position to speak in absolutes, he might have a chance of getting the fight with ‘Bud’ Crawford.
But even then, Thurman would need to accept far less than the $10 million that he supposedly wants for the Crawford fight.
Thurman is getting old, and he’s looking a lot older than his chronological age of 32. Those two years that Thurman just lost sitting on his backside on the sofa it hasn’t helped his marketability.
