Errol Spence won’t fight Keith Thurman: “That mf wouldn’t utter my name when we was both champions”

Image: Errol Spence won't fight Keith Thurman: "That mf wouldn't utter my name when we was both champions"
By Boxing News - 04/30/2022 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Errol Spence Jr. reiterated on Saturday that Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman won’t be getting a fight against him because he wouldn’t “utter” his name when the two were world champions.

Now that Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) is the big fish with the IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight titles in his possession, it’s time for some payback, shutting out the needy Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs), ignoring his pleas for a world title shot.

If Thurman wants to fight for a world title, he will need to wait until the four belts are fragmented after Spence defeats WBO champion Terence Crawford later this year.

It’s going to be tough for Thurman, though, as he’ll likely need to battle one of these young killers for one of the vacated 147-lb titles:

  • Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
  • Vergil Ortiz Jr
  • Conor Benn

Spence is one fight away from leaving the 147-lb division to move up to 154, and Thurman will have to try and make the best of things, trying to fill in the vacuum of Errol’s departure.

Thurman, 33, recently came off a three-year layoff, beating former WBA secondary light-welterweight champion Mario Barrios by a 12-round unanimous decision.

Whatever shine Thurman would have had for that win over Barrios was taken away because he cherry-picked him after his 11th round knockout loss to 135-pounder Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in his previous fight in June of last year.

Spence is coming off a sensational tenth-round knockout win earlier this month against WBA 147-lb champion Yordenis Ugas on April 16th in Arlington, Texas.

As for Thurman, there’s no telling when he’ll return to the ring. If he follows his recent pattern of licking his wounds after one of his fights, we probably won’t see him back inside the ring for another two years until 2024.

Since Thurman’s win over Danny Garcia in 2017, he’s had a couple of long layoffs of 2+ years each, making many boxing fans question his hunger for the sport.

Thurman disappears after big fights, celebrating, licking his wounds for prolonged periods. Imagine that he’ll keep following this pattern as coming events cast their shadows before.

It’s improbable that the 5’7″ Thurman will choose to move up to 154, following Spence, hoping he’ll throw him a bone. Thurman is too small to fight at 154 against the killers in that weight class, and besides, he’s too prone to injuries.

It’s reasonable to assume that if Thurman is falling apart physically after every fight at 147, he’ll shatter into many pieces at 154, to the point that he won’t be able to come back in two to three years.

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