Top welterweight Keith Thurman is recovering from a shoulder injury and hasn’t fought since his win over Julio Diaz back in April of this year. He is currently receiving physical therapy on the shoulder, but insists he will be ready for a proposed November return to the ring.
As for his opponent, there are no particulars, but it’s safe to say he won’t be getting the “big time” fight he’s been calling for – and deserves.
He’s called out everyone under the sun over the past two years. In fact, Thurman was on the brink of a major fight before the injury derailed him.
Thurman isn’t like some of the other top tier fighters without major commercial appeal; he really does seem to want a major fight against anyone worth mentioning. And Thurman doesn’t seem afraid to take on the higher risk opponents, either.
He has stated that he would like to help bridge the gap between Golden Boy and Top Rank by fighting someone from the Top Rank stable. Thurman told Thaboxingvoice.com that he heard a rumor that Oscar De La Hoya will soon meet with Bob Arum to discuss matchups and hopes his name will be part of the conversation, mentioning a possible matchup against Ruslan Provodnikov.
It seemed like Thurman and fellow welterweight Shawn Porter were heading towards a collision at some point in 2015, but that was before Porter lost his IBF title to England’s Kell Brook last month.
Now it appears a fight with Porter will have to wait or risk having it come to fruition with a minimized degree of anticipation.
However, a fight with Kell Brook is much more interesting and in some ways it has replaced the desire fans had to see a fight between Thurman and Porter.
Thurman was ringside on the night of Brook-Porter and he had to feel some sense of disappointment as he watched the allure of a fight with Porter slip away round by round. But his focus has since shifted from Porter to Brook.
“If anything, I got my eyes a little bit geared towards Kell Brook now. In my heart, all I ever really wanted to do is get rid of the undefeated fighters in the welterweight division and with that fight (Brook-Porter), we got rid of one, maybe the one we didn’t think we were going to get rid of, but that’s what happen,” Thurman told Thaboxingvoice.com.
Thurman has always wanted a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (who doesn’t?), but that road may lead through Kell Brook, the only other remaining undefeated welterweight at the top of the division.
“Now the welterweight division, in the top ten, we’re left with Kell Brook, Mayweather, and Keith Thurman. There is only three undefeated welterweights left in the division and knowing I’m one of them makes me pumped and I’m looking forward to seeing which one of us experiences that “L” first.”
Brook’s status is at an all-time high and Thurman may be forced to cross the pond in order to secure a fight with Brook. But giving Brook home field advantage isn’t a problem for Thurman.
When asked about the prospects of traveling, Thurman responded “I would do that all day. I don’t care where we fight, you can put me on the moon and as long as there’s a ring and some judges I’ll make the fight happen. I have no hesitations with traveling.”
Thurman is confident about going overseas and that confidence stems from some invaluable advice he received early in his career.
“My original trainer Ben Getty, he taught me everything, used to talk about the pros when I was a 10yr old amateur and what you need to do to be a pro and a champion. He used to say that when it comes to fighting overseas you never go overseas unless you can knock the guy out. The easiest way to guarantee that you will not be robbed overseas is to be a power puncher and produce a knockout, to know that you’re going over there to produce a knockout, nothing less than that knockout. I would love to fight Kell Brook,” Thurman said.
He certainly seems to have the right frame of mind and he is anxious to secure the fight. Thurman insists any hesitation to secure a fight wouldn’t come from his end.
“He’s another undefeated fighter and December would be fine with me, but I don’t believe that’s the fight they want. Boxing doesn’t work that way anymore, there’s more politics.
“He’s interested in “One Time,” I’m interested in “The Special One.” I want to know how special he is. I’ll fly over there and I know the fans want to see it. And I know Al [Haymon] would let it happen, just to let you know Al would let it happen.”
