Someone who's on the outside looking in is former unified 147-pound champion, Keith Thurman. In February, the 33-year-old returned from a two-and-a-half year layoff when he battered and dominated Mario Barrios to win via a lopsided decision. But it was the fight before that which is "frustrating" to "One Time"; a split decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in July 2019. A win over boxing's eight-division world champion, and Thurman feels he's the one battling Spence, not Ugas.
“If Ugas and Spence are to fight, it’s frustrating,” Thurman said in a video with Premier Boxing Champions. “Because one of the only reasons why any of that has manifested is because Thurman has lost to Manny Pacquiao back in the summer of 2019.
“None of this would have been able to manifest with a victory over Manny Pacquiao.”
Spence had been set to face Pacquiao last August. But a little less than two weeks before the showdown, Spence was forced to pull out due to a retinal tear. Ugas was already on the undercard and stepped right in and defeated Pacquiao to retain the WBA belt and send the Filipino into retirement, while securing his spot into a clash with Spence for a chance to claim three welterweight titles.
“Manny Pacquiao comes back, loses to Ugas, last-minute placement, but it wasn’t a good fight stylistically," Thurman said. "Ugas is a very big welterweight. He had that long reach. He’s a Cuban fighter. Stylistically it wasn’t a good matchup, but Manny wanted to put on a show for the fans, and he stepped away from the sport of boxing. But now Ugas is in a better position, holding onto the WBA title that I once had, getting a fight with Spence, which should be my fight.”
With one bout already under his belt, Thurman is ready to get another fight locked in to remind the welterweight division that he's still the same fighter when he was on top of the mountain.
“So that’s why it’s very important for Thurman to come back this year,” he said. “It’s very important to come back strong, so I can make a statement and show them, with or without a belt, I’m one of the greatest welterweights in the welterweight division today.”