Keith Thurman headlines the inaugural PBC on ESPN card next month in his hometown of Tampa/St Petersburg. Should he win, he feels he deserves a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather defeated Pacquiao on points last May. Thurman knew what Mayweather was going to do and wasn’t surprised by the outcome.
“I know Mayweather, as long as he was going to use the best strategy, I figured his best strategy was to use his footwork and to potshot all night, and that’s pretty much what he did,” Thurman told OnTheRopesBoxing.com. “He controlled Manny Pacquiao on the outside and he never really stood in front of Manny Pacquiao, not being an easy target for him. It was a beautiful job by Floyd, and it’s what I expected from him.”
Regarding the injury to Pacquiao, Thurman feels the money was just too much to pass up in postponing a fight with Mayweather
“Something like 80 million dollars can answer that question,” Thurman said. “The money, the money makes people make certain decisions. I believe Max Kellerman made a statement like a week after the Floyd fight on how he was supposed to get some form of a shot, some sort of treatment the night before the fight and it was supposed to be sanctioned by the Nevada commission.
The problem was, the certain paperwork didn’t get filled out, and Nevada declined Pacquiao of whatever treatment he was supposed to be allowed to have for the fight. Pacquiao expected to get treatment on the shoulder, and that would have helped him perform in the fight, but instead he was unable to get the treatment due to some technicality, some paperwork backstage. Whose fault is it? Is it Freddie Roach’s fault? Is it the Nevada Commissioner’s fault? Is it Pacquiao’s team fault? Whose fault is it?”
The bout broke all records, and many in the industry feel that a rematch will generate good numbers. They probably won’t come close to the first fight, but still numbers, where everyone involved, will make a nice buck. Thurman, however, doesn’t feel like Pacquiao should get a rematch
“At the end of the day, I believe that it’s the fighter and his trainer’s job to show up in the best physical shape possible, and they didn’t do that, and that’s their bad. Mayweather came to perform. I don’t think he deserves a rematch, I don’t think anyone wants to see a rematch. Just like my nickname, sometimes you only get ‘One time.’”
