WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman blasted pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather for insinuating that he doesn’t deserve a fight because he isn’t ready to face him in the ring for a competitive fight.
Thurman (26-0-0, 22 KOs) wants to face Mayweather on Sept. 12 when the world’s highest-paid boxer returns for his last outing in the $200 million six-fight contract with CBS/Showtime. But Mayweather downplayed Thurman’s unbeaten career record saying the 26-year-old Clearwater, Florida native should instead consider Errol Spence?who is Mayweather’s sparring partner?for his next fight. “We?re looking forward to his next fight. It could be a good match-up against Keith Thurman. I think that should be a championship fight. I think him and Keith Thurman should be for a title in his next fight. He?s ready,” Mayweather said. Thurman said Mayweather is only interested in money not his legacy or anything else. He said Mayweather fought fighters like Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero at a time when they were not ready. “As soon as that man nicknamed himself “Money,” it is apparent what’s his interest is. It’s money, not legacy, not anything else man, it’s all about the money. He wants to throw out a name like Karim Mayfield man, Look at his record, look at what he’s done, and then you say that Thurman is not ready,” he said. “He fought Victor Ortiz, Is Victor Ortiz ready? He fought Robert Guerrero. Was Robert Guerrero ready? Come on now, look what I just did to Robert Guerrero. I told you I’ll go fight Marcos Maidana, I’ll go following the footsteps of Floyd. I go fight Manny Pacquiao. I fight the world man. I told you I’ll go fight the world man. I’ve told you second time on HBO, They say who do you want to fight. I told you, Keith Thurman wants to fight the world. We are here in the world of boxing and I’m trying to dominate. It’s plain and simple man.” Thurman added.. Maywaether, who is coming off a unanimous decision victory against Manny Pacquiao, has not named his next opponent but he said he is considering Andre Berto or Karim Mayfield for his Sept. 12 retirement fight. Thurman has just retained his WBA welterweight title against former WBA International welterweight champion Luis Collazo via TKO Saturday night at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida
