During an appearance on The Last Stand with Brian Custer podcast to promote his Dec. 5 fight against Danny Garcia, current unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. made it clear that he's never going to face Keith Thurman due to the former unified welterweight champion's recent comments that the division still goes through him.
"I guess I'm moving up or going down… one of the two, because, I mean, that sh-t ain't happening," Spence said. "F--k Keith Thurman."
Thurman was the most recent guest on The PBC Podcast. Hearing Spence's rebuttal, Thurman responded by saying that Spence is picking on his leftovers and maybe he's simply trying to avoid him.
"That's a lot of talk for someone who is handling my past work," Thurman said. "As an amateur, people would circle my name so they could avoid a Keith Thurman fight. Maybe Errol's doing the same thing; I don't know. But I know I can challenge Errol Spence in a way that he's never been challenged."
Thurman's outburst is because he already beat Garcia and also defeated Spence's last opponent Shawn Porter. Thurman (29-1, 22KOs) outgunned Garcia by split decision in one of the best fights of 2017 and took care of Porter in a slugfest, winning a narrow unanimous decision in June 2016. "One Time" feels that Spence is just feasting on opponents he's already taken care of and hiding in his shadows.
"Spence has fought Porter, and now Garcia - guys I already handled a long time ago - so he's fighting in my shadow," Thurman boasted. "Porter has aggression. Garcia has the counters. But Keith Thurman can be aggressive, counter and show movement and power, so I'm someone he's never been in the ring with."
Thurman last fought back in July 2019, suffering the first setback of his career when he lost to Manny Pacquiao by split decision. After the fight, the 31-year-old underwent surgery in September 2019 that fused the metacarpal bones in his left hand. He recently resumed training and is looking to return in the first quarter of 2021.