With Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford seemingly on the road towards an undisputed welterweight title clash those without belts are looking for a fight too.
One such contender is Keith Thurman. The former WBA Welterweight champion had hoped to return this summer to build on the momentum gained from his win over Mario Barrios in February. The 33-year-old is now looking at an October date and hasn’t ruled out a fight against Yordenis Ugas, another former WBA title holder.
During a guest spot on the Premier Boxing Champions podcast Thurman said:
“I’m looking forward to hopefully this October date and still don’t have a legitimate name.”
“I was supposed to get a few names so anybody who says this is Thurman’s next opponent it’s kind of a rumour. I was supposed to be given a list and go over it with my team and then making a decision. I look forward to getting the actual list of names for true potential opponents.”
With Thurman and Ugas chasing another world title opportunity a fight against one another could benefit them at this time in their careers. If Spence Jr and Crawford throw down later in the year it ties the titles up a bit longer leaving the chasing pack looking for a meaningful match-up.
Thurman went on to trash the performance of Ugas against Spence Jr during their unification bout in April:
“I hope more than a Cuban punching bag shows up to the fight.”
“He let Spence get away with too much. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Like I tell all my fighters in the gym offence wins fights, not defence.”
Thurman went on to talk about possibly facing Ugas himself:
“Thurman vs Ugas that would give us another radar on the skill potential of what Keith Thurman may do if that fight manifests [against Spence Jr].”
“I like that. I call those kind of fights a measuring stick. For that purpose, I think it’s a good fight.”