Amir Khan Next Fight: ‘Never Ducked’ Keith Thurman And Interested In Taking

Undefeated welterweight Keith Thurman has all the tools to be the first man to defeat Floyd Mayweather.

On Saturday, Keith faces journeyman Luis Collazo (36-6) in the first Premier Boxing Champions fight to be broadcast by ESPN.

It’s hardly the greatest matchup. By lumping Keith Thurman’s name with Spence’s, Ellerbe and co. have started to create the narrative that Thurman and Spence should be focused on fighting each other instead of Floyd. His last victory came over ex- world champion, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, in which he captured a unanimous decision victory in defense of his welterweight title.

And though, like most athletes, he hasn’t been dismissive of his opponents, he made it plain he’s shooting as high as he can go. “I’m hoping to build momentum this year to where if Floyd is still around, we can get a shot and be on PPV and fight the pound-for-pound king”.

Lawsuits have, sadly, been a part of boxing for decades, and Top Rank has been involved in hundreds of them, as both the plaintiffs and the defendants.

If Thurman fought like Canelo, I think he would way more fans than he does now.

Thurman said something about Collazo’s name being the only one that was mentioned to him for his next fight. I’m not underestimating him. “Does Pepsi-Cola do promotions with Coca-Cola?” If Mayweather waits until August to pick his next opponent, then he’ll doom the fight to low numbers unless he picks out a popular fighter. If Thurman and Mayweather did square off, more than likely it would be on pay-per-view because of the demand. “PBC has been great for the sport because everyone can tune-in to these fights”. “I do have this fight [Saturday], and anything can happen in this fight”. We’re the entertainment. We’re the reason people are buying tickets and tuning in. “It wasn’t what I wanted, but … if this was the man that wanted to sign on the dotted line then this is what it’s going to be”. He’s entitled to say whatever he wants to.

Why would Mayweather want to fight Thurman?

It’s hard, he said, to grow the business when the best events are available to the least amount of people. Maybe he does want to make the fight brew or let the controversy build up longer and a little bit more. I understand the sport of boxing. I think I might just Google that. How much are they getting for a minute’s commercial? An impressive win though, that gets you a real jump.

“There’s a lot to talk about with this fight”. But all that can only come close to happening if Khan gets shunned yet again by Mayweather’s next opponent in September. His footwork and movement are good, and when he can get his pressure game going, he does good work against the ropes.

Saturday’s ESPN telecast will include a special Thurman video feature.