Undefeated welterweight Keith Thurman has all the tools to be the first man to defeat Floyd Mayweather. He’s a solid boxer with incredible power. He fights with balance and precision. He’s deadly accurate with his punches and at age 26 he appears to be in his physical prime.
But Thurman isn’t mentioned as much as is perhaps warranted as a possible Mayweather opponent. In fact, my Google search today led me to various articles about Thurman really wanting the Mayweather fight, Mayweather saying he should fight Errol Spence instead, and Leonard Ellerbe saying Thurman is already off the list of potential September opponents for Mayweather altogether.
So I asked Thurman why I’m not seeing his name very much in regards to a Mayweather fight. He told me to Google it.
“Well I think you need to do a little more research on Google, because it is being talked about. I am one of the few people that writers are talking about for Floyd’s next fight. There are only three undefeated welterweights in the division that are ranked in the top 10 according to Ring Magazine… Mayweather, Kell Brook and [myself].”
Obviously, I was already aware of Thurman’s place in the division. But I didn’t belabor the point. In fact, while I was considering using Bing instead of Google for the task or even finding out if Ask Jeeves still exists, Thurman told me he suspected Mayweather probably considers him too great a threat right now. I didn’t Google it yet, but I think I might agree.
“Floyd always picks who he wants to fight. The writers, the news people, they can talk about it, but they talked about Manny Pacquiao for five years and the fight just happened this year so…”
Thurman’s right. Calling on Thurman to fight Errol Spence, a 25-year-old prospect who only recently started competing in 10-rounders, doesn’t seem befitting of someone who claims to be “The Best Ever,” as Mayweather does. And honestly, why is Mayweather so interested in Thurman’s career anyway, if not as a potential opponent? Seriously. I’m asking. I’m pretty sure Google won’t know the answer the answer to that and I’ve been scared to talk to Siri ever since I asked her what zero divided by zero was.
“Why is he calling me out over all the array of welterweights there are? It’s because under Floyd Mayweather, of all the American welterweight champions, I’m the greatest.”
Thurman might not be on Mayweather’s shortlist for September, but Thurman says he’ll bide his time and make his case in the future.
“Mayweather is a great world champion but one thing that we have in common is fighting Robert Guerrero. I was able to knock Guerrero down in the 9th round. I fought through a hematoma from the 3rd round on, and it was a terrific and very exciting fight. A lot of casual fans got to see that fight. I’m hoping to build momentum this year to where if Floyd is still around we can get a shot and be on PPV and fight the pound-for-pound king.”
Thurman faces Luis Collazo on Saturday in the inaugural edition of PBC on ESPN. The native Floridian said he’s happy to be fighting in front of his home crowd.
“It’s another blessing. I’m truly happy with my career. My team is happy. My family is happy. I have so many family members coming out to this fight. I’m just ecstatic that it’s in Tampa. I can defend my WBA [regular] world title at home. A lot of my friends who have been watching me on the tube get to come out and see me in person. They’re happy about it.”
So everyone seems to be pretty happy I guess. One wonders if Mayweather might even make an appearance there, or maybe he’ll just watch the fight at home. I think I might just Google that. I have a lot of other things to look up, too.
