Keith Thurman Rips Floyd Mayweather For Ducking Him Years Ago
WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman called out boxing legend Floyd Mayweather for ducking him years ago.
Thurman defends his title against another legend in Manny Pacquiao this weekend in one of the biggest boxing fights of the year. There’s been talk that with a win over Thurman, Pacquiao could set up a lucrative rematch with Mayweather afterwards.
Thurman Says Mayweather Didn’t Want Real Fight
When asked what his thoughts on that were, Thurman questioned why “Money” doesn’t choose to face him instead:
“I think what I’ve always thought — why not me, Floyd?” Thurman said on TMZ. “Why not me? You never wanted to fight me? Come on now. I was right there, right underneath you. For years. I was the #1 contender of the WBA and then they made you super champion so that our names didn’t have to be in the same sentence together. Because a super champion does not have to fight a regular champion. I don’t have to fight Manny Pacquiao. There is no mandatories for a super champion. And the only super champion before me was Floyd Mayweather.
“Obviously, Floyd fights for the money. The money team. It ain’t hard to figure people out. I don’t have to sit down and have a conversation. We don’t have to go to the club together. At the end of the day, I get the man. He about making that paper, man. But if he wanted a real fight, he would have saw me years ago.”
It’s not the first time Thurman referenced Mayweather ducking someone. When asked last year why he wasn’t facing Errol Spence Jr., “One Time” said that fight would eventually happen, adding that he wasn’t Mayweather. The implication being Mayweather chooses the right time to face his opponents instead of during their prime.
Pacquiao vs. Thurman takes place July 20 at the Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
What do you think of Thurman’s comments?
