Keith Thurman says he’d be interested in fighting Errol Spence next after his initial comeback fight against Brock Jarvis this Wednesday, March 12th in Sydney, Australia.
Tszyu Dismissed
Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) says he “doesn’t need” the Tim Tszyu fight to happen next for him, especially if he loses his match against Joey Spencer on April 6th. He says as soon as he returns to the U.S after his bout against Jarvis (22-1, 20 KOs), he’d be open to start negotiations for his long-awaited fight against former IBF, WBA and WBC welterweight champion Spence (28-1, 22 KOs).
Errol, 34, hasn’t fought since losing to Terence Crawford by a ninth round knockout on July 29, 2023. He had planned on fighting WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora next, but the match failed to happen. A fight between Spence and Thurman would attract a lot of interest from fans in the U.S, provided both want the clash.
Keith, 36, hasn’t fought in three years, and there’s no telling what will happen against Jarvis, 27, this Wednesday night in their 10-round main event clash at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia. Jarvis looks slow, but he has power and he’s a lot younger than Thurman. That might be enough for him to overcome the talent and experience gap.
Spence Path
“Let’s make it happen, baby. I signed my contract. It had Errol Spence’s name right on it. I signed my side,” said Keith Thurman to Fighthype when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Errol Spence. “His side never signed, and then he shifted away to go get the money with Bud [Terence Crawford].
“I’m not mad at him. I understand the sport, I understand the politics, I understand moments in time, and sometimes you do this instead of that. I don’t know why. It’s a fight that should have been happened. We’ve been under the same management team a long time.”
The way Spence performed against Crawford, he’d have lost to Thurman as well. So, it’s good that he chose the better-paying fight against Crawford. In reality, Errol would have been beaten by a lot of contenders that night because he looked weight drained, weak, slow and physically not what he’d been in 2018.
“I thought he was coming up on me and once I lost the titles, he was about to fight Pacquiao. His fight fell out with Pacquiao [due to eye injury], because he was unifying, trying to get all the belts and trying to do the whole thing.
“So, if I didn’t have the belt, he didn’t have to chase my name no more and he could let me go off to the side. The fight with Fundora fell out [for Thurman]. I really don’t need the Tim Tszyu fight. I just think it’s a decent fight if I’m going to stay active and busy. If Tim Tszyu doesn’t win in his comeback fight [against Joey Spencer on April 6th] and he has three losses in a row, I don’t know how much excitement I can milk out of that cow.
“From that scenario, I would love to negotiate as soon as I’m back in the States for the Spence fight in Dallas, in Vegas, wherever. I’ll easily negotiate that fight right after this initial comeback fight. So, if we can make that happen, let’s make it happen. I would love the match-up.
“I’ve always been interested in sharing the ring with a great champion like Errol Spence. The truth is, you fought everybody but you ain’t fight me. That’s the truth,” said Thurman.
Thurman shouldn’t count his chickens before they’ve hatched because he might lose to Jarvis on Wednesday. It’s been three years, and he just looks old now. The youth Thurman had in his last fight coming off a three-year layoff against Mario Barrios in 2022 is gone.
