Keith Thurman kindly agreed to an interview with Fight Hub TV, offering his perspective on the comments made by undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford regarding his refusal to fight Danny Garcia and Thurman himself. The former world champion quickly sought to challenge Crawford’s achievements and resume based on Crawford’s comments, but maintained a respectful tone.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) rebuked both Danny Garcia (37-3, 21 KO’s) and Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s), who had been linked to fighting him over the past few weeks according to various media outlets. Crawford’s comments were quite scathing, as he stated, “My, my how the tables have turned. @DannySwift and @keithfthurmanjr will never and I mean never get a shot at the top dog, and that’s me. Y’all didn’t want no smoke when I wanted to fight, remember? Now y’all want to fight so bad. Go keep fighting each other like before.“
Both Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman seemingly avoided Terence Crawford when he became the WBO welterweight champion in 2018. Although Top Rank, Crawford’s promoter at the time, approached Danny Garcia about a potential fight in 2019, Garcia never responded to the offer.
Keith Thurman explicitly stated in a 2019 interview with Fight Hype that he had no interest in fighting Crawford. However, Thurman recently called out Crawford last month, indicating a renewed interest in the fight.
During his interview with Fight Hub TV on September 13th, Thurman seemed to dismiss Crawford’s July 29th victory over Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KO’s), attributing it to timing rather than Crawford’s skills.
“I don’t know if Danny said anything to spark that, I don’t know,” Thurman started when Crawford’s above-mentioned Tweet was read out to him during his interview with Fight HUb.
“There’s a few things [to clear up]. One, you didn’t beat up a champion, bro. I don’t think that Errol Spence would beat Shawn Porter, okay?
“Everyone knows in boxing that it’s timing. I don’t really like to talk down on fighters, but there’s an old saying that Ben Getty used to talk about. I never got to witness it too much in my boxing career, but the old saying is, ‘one day you got it, and the next day you don’t’.
“I haven’t really witnessed it much of my career but for the first time ever, when Spence did his last interview, I think we all saw it, man.“
Errol Spence Jr. had been in a serious car accident in October 2019 but fought Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugas without any noticeable issues afterward. He withdrew from a fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2021 due to a retinal tear in his left eye but returned approximately eight months later for a TKO victory over Yordenis Ugas.
Thurman further mentioned political issues as a reason why a fight with Crawford did not happen in the past but acknowledged that Crawford is no longer with Bob Arum’s Top Rank and has fought two PBC fighters ― thus suggesting that he was a likewise suitable opponent for Crawford than when he fought the PBC’s Shawn Porter (31-4-1, 17 KO’s) and Errol Spence Jr.
“Porter fought you and then instantly announced his retirement. Like, come on man, that fight was already over.
“[If] you asked somebody like me, the fight was already over. Nobody’s a life dog like Thurman in these later years. I’m gonna be the only one that as he gets older y’all gonna say ‘is he still in his prime? Why does that boy fight like he’s in his prime?’.” Thurman maintained.
Thurman further emphasized his desire for a fight with Crawford and his confidence in his abilities.
“I just want it on a level that I’ve always wanted it, man. So that’s all I really got to say for today’s comments on Crawford.” Thurman said about the possibility of a Crawford fight.
Keith Thurman has been inactive for over one and a half year since last facing Mario Barrios in February of 2022.
