Keith Thurman responds to Spence “He fake” comment!
Former unified welterweight champion Keith “One-Time” Thurman (29-1, 22ko) once was on top of the division. The “I got an 0 and not scared to let it go,” saying used to mean he was on track to take over the division.
Furthermore, scoring big wins over former champion “Showtime” Shawn Porter (30-3-1, 17ko) and a unification victory over then-WBC champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (36-2, 21ko) had One-Time in position to possibly succeed Floyd “Money” Mayweather (50-0, 27ko) as the division’s top dog.
QUICK LOOK BACK
When Thurman was rising through the ranks, he was on the heels of all the top names in the division. He clearly expressed his desire to fight both top money earners in Mayweather, and Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39ko).
Then there was the famous “You better not duck me son” quote to then-WBA champion Paul “Magic Man” Malignaggi (36-8, 7ko) during a post-press conference that went viral. It was clear that there was a new young hungry lion on the scene that wanted in on the action.
BACK FROM THE PAST
However, things quickly changed in 2017. After becoming a unified champion, the Florida native was sidelined for two years plagued with injuries. He would later have to drop the WBC title, and to make matters worse, there was a growing opinion inside the boxing community that he was afraid to fight IBF champion Errol ‘The Truth” Spence Jr. (26-0, 21ko).
In the summer of 2019, Thurman suffered another big blow losing the WBA title to the ageless Filipino Senator in Pacquiao and following the defeat, the former unified champion was placed on the injured reserve list again.
LOOKING AT THE FUTURE
The current COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the pause button on the entire sport. All major entities have moved to social media platforms to keep fans engaged in the sport. Premier Boxing Champions introduced their show called Time-Out featuring Ray Flores.
During the second installment of the PBC brand, a social media Q&A session would feature the aforementioned fighter from Florida. Furthermore, on the previous show, unified champion Spence called the man he was once chasing fake.
Immediately, the commentator made Thurman aware of the comments made by Spence, who gave an interesting take about it.
“That’s interesting. Look, to me it don’t make that much sense at the end of the day. I’m not supposed to argue the same thing, Floyd never gave me a chance. I got a chance with Manny after almost 22 months of inactivity when I wanted to fight at 25 years old.
“That happens. The only thing is he’s [Errol Spence] in a power position so he has the luxury to say whatever he wants out of his mouth, and stay true to it cause he holds power by being the current unified champion in the welterweight division.
“I respect that, I know what it’s like to be in that position. I remember when Shawn Porter, I wanted to fight Shawn Porter. I have yet to become champion of the world, Shawn had got his hands on the IBF and I wanted to fight Shawn Porter and Kenny Porter said ‘there is no need to, Keith Thurman, he doesn’t have a belt. We will fight him when he gets a belt because we know he will one day. We will fight him when he gets a belt, we can unify and then the winner can fight Floyd Mayweather.’
“Then comes an opportunity to fight Shawn Porter. I wanted this fight a few years ago and I wanted the fight when he was champion. Now I have an opportunity to fight him when I am champion.
“You know I felt what Errol said. I felt that emotion before, like you know what, I don’t have to. I should diss him right now so he knows what it’s like when someone doesn’t want to give you your shot.
“At the end of the day, what does Errol Spence want out of his career? He can say whatever he wants to say about Keith Thurman and fakeness this and that, but there really aren’t that many more great welterweight fights. There is no great welterweight match-ups. You don’t know what you are in the welterweight division if you have never seen Keith Thurman.”
By: Garrisson Bland
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