By Chris Williams: Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman says he’s been waiting for the phone call from Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe for him to begin setting up a fight between him and their young star Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Ellerbe recently said that he’d make the fight with former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) and Tank Davis in a “nanosecond,” and that it was just one phone call away from happening.
Unfortunately, Ellerbe hasn’t picked up the phone to call Thurman, and that “nanosecond” that he was talking about has long passed and turned into over a month.
Thurman is still interested in the fight with the unbeaten Tank Davis (25-0, 24 KOs), but it doesn’t look like Ellerbe was just blow smoke, using ‘One Time’ for clout-chasing purposes to get some free publicity for his fighter Gervonta.
‘One Time’ Thurman says if Tank Davis were serious about fighting at 147, he would move up and fight a former lightweight to get acclimated to the division rather than taking on a guy like himself, who has been fighting at welterweight since day one when he first turned professional.
Keith wants to sign a contract
“Anytime, any date, I’m out here working,” said Thurman when asked on Friday when he’ll be back inside the ring. “Anybody who wants to sign a contract,” Thurman said on who is a good return fight for him.
“Over history, when lightweights move up, lightweights fight other lightweights that already moved up into the welterweight division,” said Thurman in talking about Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis possibly facing him at welterweight.
“Lightweights don’t fight welterweights. [Former super featherweight champion] Adrien Broner fought Paulie Malignaggi [when AB moved up to 147]. That was not a real welterweight,” said Thurman on Broner fighting a Malignaggi, who had started his career at lightweight [135].
“When he [Broner] started getting in the real welterweight mix, he started taking L’s. I’m not saying that Gervonta Davis is just going to take L’s. He’s just that kind of fighter.
“When you move up, you move up in the right way,” Thurman continued with his lecturing on how Gervonta is making a mistake if he moves up from 135 to 147 to challenge him.
The contract for a fight with Thurman isn’t going to be coming from Mayweather Promotions anytime soon for him to take on their young golden goose.
Tank is the only guy that Mayweather Promotions has in their stable that is a big moneymaker.
Yeah, Mayweather has a fortune of close to a billion, but he’s not using that money to sign the best fighters in boxing the way other promotional companies like Matchroom, Top Rank, and Golden Boy are doing.
It’s unclear why Mayweather isn’t doing that because he’s got the money to be the #1 promoter in boxing if he was willing to invest it in signing the best.
Thurman: I’m waiting for the phone call
“A lot of people do it. If he has a great fight, a great pay-per-view fight,” said Thurman. “I think the Mikey Garcia is a great pay-per-view fight. Is that the fight? Do they [ Team Tank Davis]?
“Do they really want to just go in with Keith Thurman? You know me. That’s why I’m calling out [Leonard] Ellerbe. Don’t play me ‘nanosecond.’ I’ve been here for way more than a nanosecond.
“I’ve been waiting for the phone call [from Mayweather Promotions] for way more than a nanosecond. I don’t play games.
“Give me the contract [for Tank Davis fight], show me the date, show me the money. I’m about to put it in the bank, and you can see my name signed on the dotted line. Come on; this ain’t a game. This is what we do,” said Thurman.
Ellerbe has no intentions whatsoever in making a fight between Tank Davis and Thurman. Maybe Ellerbe briefly thought about it, but he’s not going to make that move for whatever reason.
Did Mayweather tell Ellerbe to forget the idea of having Tank Davis move up to 147 to face Thurman? It’s possible. That would be a move that Chris Williams could see Mayweather making in blocking that fight.