What felt like the entire boxing world showered Terence Crawford in praise for his performance against Errol Spence Jr back in July, with many stating his showing to claim the undisputed welterweight world championship is one of the very best of this generation.
However, one of Crawford’s rivals has offered up a somewhat contrary view, playing down the win and claiming the Omaha man did not “beat up a real champion.”
In a recent interview with Fight Hub TV, former welterweight titlist Keith Thurman aimed a remarkable rant in the direction of ‘Bud,’ in what appears to be an attempt to force a fight.
“Are you king of the hill now? Yeah. Do you deserve it? Yeah. But do I still think you beat almost nobody? You didn’t beat up a real champion, kid.”
“Everyone knows that if you put Thurman in the ring with that Errol? He gets wiped – he gets wiped by a lot of people. And if you put Thurman in the ring with you, on that same night in Vegas? It ain’t the same fight.”
“We’ve got interviews with you on ESPN saying that Keith Thurman is a tougher fight than Errol Spence! I’m not going to tell you what to do with your career, you don’t want the fight? That’s fine.”
Like anyone else, Thurman will have to bide his time if he wants a shot at Crawford, after reports from earlier this month that Spence has decided to trigger a contractual rematch clause.
Even then, Crawford has recently insisted he will never give Thurman a shot due to past comments.
The specifics on Crawford vs Spence 2 remain left to be agreed, however it is expected to land either towards the back end of this year or in early 2024.