Keith Thurman On Spence-Crawford: “This Is What Our Generation Needs”

By: Sean Crose

Keith Thurman isn’t known to keep his opinions to himself. What’s more, even though Thurman hasn’t been fighting nearly as much as he probably should, he’s a man who knows boxing inside and out. When the fighter known “One Time” speaks about the sweet science, there’s often very good reason to listen. Therefore, it’s interesting to hear Thurman weigh in on the upcoming Errol Spence-Terence Crawford July superfight in positive terms. Thurman is arguably a future opponent for either man, after all. Still, it’s clear the Florida native respects the fact that the long awaited undisputed welterweight championship match is going down.

“These are two undefeated champions,” Thurman has said to FightHub. “Two champions of this caliber, undefeated, going to unify the entire division, doing something unprecedented, something that Floyd Mayweather never accomplished in his career. Sure enough, great as he was, Mayweather never held the title of undisputed world welterweight champion. Indeed, there has never been an undisputed welterweight champion in the age of four major organizations (WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO). Yet another reason why Spence-Thurman is being viewed as a big deal.

“This is what our generation needs, they need that to gain the status. They’re both future Hall of Famers,” said Thurman, “but somebody’s just gonna have a few more words to say on their plaque at the end of the day, that’s what fighting is all about.” Sure enough, Crawford and Spence are likely to be inducted into the Hall of Fame no matter what happens during their July fight. As Thurman indicates, however, fights such as this are necessary for the health of the sport. And indeed, Thurman himself would no doubt love to be involved in an event of this caliber. Not that the man hasn’t been involved in some major fights of his own.

Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, and Robert Guerrero are just a few of the names Thurman has conquered in the ring. Indeed, the man has only lost once, and that was to living legend Manny Pacquiao back in 2019 (and that fight was quite close). Thurman didn’t seem crazy about facing Spence while the young man was on the rise, however. Furthermore, a fight between himself and Crawford never panned out. Should he begin fighting more (Thurman hasn’t entered the ring in over a year) the man may well find himself finally sharing the ring with Spence or Crawford in the near enough future.