By: Sean Crose
Former Welterweight Champion Keith Thurman has expressed disappointment that Yordenis Ugas and Errol Spence are about to fight in the pay-per-view title reunification this weekend while he is seated. a big game. “It’s frustrating,” the boxer known as “One Time” said on a Boxing Champion Debuts video, “because one of the only reasons any of that came out is because Thurman lost to Manny Pacquiao in the summer of 2019. None of this can show up to a win over Manny Pacquiao. .”
Thurman went on to explain how Spence-Ugas formed. “Manny Pacquiao came back and lost to Ugas,” he said. “Last minute substitutions, but it wasn’t a good fight in terms of style. Ugas is a huge weight. He’s reached that range, he’s a Cuban fighter in terms of style. It wasn’t a great math problem, but Manny wanted to give a performance like he always does for his fans. This, of course, is true. Pacquiao was supposed to fight Spence last year, not Ugas. However, Spence dropped out of the fight due to an eye injury, so Ugas moved on, who proved too much for aging Pacquiao.
“But now Ugas is in a better position,” continued Thurman, “to hold on to the WBA title I used to have, fight Spence, that should be my fight.” While it’s easy to accuse Thurman of the sour grapes here, it could be argued that the Florida native doesn’t believe he should literally fight Saturday, only lamenting that he will. fight if Pacquiao doesn’t win the WBA title from him back in 2019.
“That’s why it’s so important for Thurman to return this year,” Thurman said. “It’s been very important for me to come back strong so I can make a statement, so that with the belt, without the belt, I’m one of the greatest weightlifters in the world right now.” Few can claim that Thurman is not one of the top heavyweights in the world, but the veteran has been away from the sport for a long time for a variety of reasons, this one – combined with the loss to Pacquiao – brought attention to shining elsewhere. Thurman may really want the winner of this weekend’s Spence-Ugas battle, but there’s another opponent out there, a world champion, who many want to see against the winner. won – undefeated WBO champion Terence Crawford.
