Thurman has his eyes on Spence Jr for 2021
Clearly former welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-1, 22 KO’s) wants a world title again. And WBC and IBF world welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr (26-0, 21 KO’s) appears to be the route he wants to take. After going live with his fans via his social media, Thurman threw his name around far more than any other.
Yet, it should be noted that he was not 100% stuck on the Truth. Based on his statements, his overall goal is simply to recapture a title regardless of whom or how that came to be.
“Who I want to fight next? I just want a good fight, that’s all I want, I just want another challenge, something to challenge me. Real talk, its either I get my fight back, I get my title back or I get an opportunity to fight one of these champs next. So that would mean anything that qualifies as a title eliminator, blazay, blazay, whatever your boy got to do to be champ again.”
FOCUSED ON TELLING THE TRUTH
It is good to hear that Thurman is being realistic and practical about the road that he needs to travel to another title opportunity. Although there is simply no denying that Errol Spence Jr is the one fight that he is placing above the rest. The unified champ has his own business to take care of first, however.
The Truth is scheduled to tangle with Danny “Swift” Garcia (26-2, 21 KO’s) on December 5. Assuming that Spence is successful in that prizefight, his first since his 2019 car accident, Thurman wants next. Yet, One Time did extend a few cautionary words of advice for Spence.
“Me and Errol 2021, come on! That is the near future, must do, things to do. Let that boy handle his business coming up. He got to not get caught by them ‘no-look-hooks’ by Danny-boy! He took too many punches from Shawn Porter, he better not take punches from Danny. Them not the same fighters, you see I was not on the ropes with Danny. I let Shawn hit me, I didn’t let Danny hit me! Them Philadelphia bricks coming at you!”
TITLE FIGHT NEXT IS DOUBTFUL
It’ll be interesting to see who Thurman can score a fight with next. While it’s clear that he is very thirsty for a Spence showdown, practically speaking that might not be realistic. In terms of Spence’s WBA strap, the Floridian is not even ranked in the sanctioning body’s top fifteen.
In the WBC’s ranking he is rated #4, behind #1 Shawn Porter, #2 Danny Garcia and #3 Mikey Garcia. Said to say, unless the Truth goes out of his way to make the fight, Thurman does not have any tangible route to Spence any time soon. Even the WBA has him ranked at #11. That seems rather harsh considering he was the champion going in this last fight against the current WBA super world welterweight champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KO’s).
So while One Time is eager to be a champion, its looking like a title eliminator, as he mentioned, is what is in his immediate future.
By: Bakari Simpson
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