Boxing: Errol Spence vs Keith Thurman

[inthelongrun]

The WBC Convention is ongoing and one of its latest actions is issuing a mandatory for its welterweight champion Errol Spence against ex-unified champion Keith Thurman. Keith Thurman is the third-biggest name in the division right now. But as popular as Thurman is, he is not the same fighter anymore, in nearly 6 years, he only fought 3 times and he struggled in those fights. Thurman doesn't even deserve a top 5 ranking but the WBC is one of the best when it comes to business exploitations. This seems like a sweet save by the WBC so Spence can avoid undefeated young prospects Eimantas Stanionis and Boots Ennis. Both will be high-risk with low rewards for Spence but they are supposed to be the mandatories for his WBA and IBF belts. And who knows, Spence will be ready against WBO champion Terrence Crawford who's turning 36 next year.     

Errol Spence: current WBA/WBC/IBF champion
Pro record: 28-0-22 KOs

Keith Thurman: ex-WBA/WBC champion
Pro record: 30-1-22 KOs       

This is not yet official but if Spence won't take this big easy fight, he will be stripped of his WBC belt and he might face either WBA or IBF mandatories the young and undefeated Stanionis or Boots. Spence can also move up to 154 and say goodbye to a possible undisputed fight against Crawford.

My personal take. This fight will happen since this is a big fight and should be very easy for Spence. Spence should be able to stop this past-prime version of Thurman or at least win an easy unanimous decision if he wants to stay safe.

[yazher]

My personal take. This fight will happen since this is a big fight and should be very easy for Spence. Spence should be able to stop this past-prime version of Thurman or at least win an easy unanimous decision if he wants to stay safe.

Obviously, for him, this fight is easy and has just a little bit of risk than fighting Crawford since he easily beat Ugas, and more likely that would be the same for Thurman however we don't know how much Thurman improved after his last fight but when he didn't change at all, he will also easily defeated by Spence. Probably he won't last until the last round because Spence can preserve his power until the last round and Thurman can't take that many powerful punches especially if he takes many solid punches on his stomach and his chin.

[robelneo]

Compare to Crawford's opponent Avanesyan, Thurman is a good pick but not a risky one for Spence, Spence will win here but of course, Thurman is going to give him a hard time, Thurman is still good based on what I see on his latest fight he still has it, but skill and power wise, Spence will overpower him, we all expect to see Crawford and Spence winning their respective fights there are no fighters in the welterweight that can match up these two fighters but unfortunately, both fighters don't want to part with their undefeated records.

[bittraffic]

It was said that Stanionis and Ennis will be among the undercard, they will definitely be watching who deserves to fight Spence when he wins against Thurman.

Terrence is to fight Avanesyan by Dec this year. You can view this as a tuneup fight but the organization may also want to confirm if Terrence still has the punching power to defeat Spence. If it's the case, we'll not see Spence vs Crawford until he's near 40.

[ultrloa]

My personal take. This fight will happen since this is a big fight and should be very easy for Spence. Spence should be able to stop this past-prime version of Thurman or at least win an easy unanimous decision if he wants to stay safe.

Obviously, for him, this fight is easy and has just a little bit of risk than fighting Crawford since he easily beat Ugas, and more likely that would be the same for Thurman however we don't know how much Thurman improved after his last fight but when he didn't change at all, he will also easily defeated by Spence. Probably he won't last until the last round because Spence can preserve his power until the last round and Thurman can't take that many powerful punches especially if he takes many solid punches on his stomach and his chin.

Thurman is mandatory challenger so it will be a challenge for spence since he need to pick up that match to defend his belt. I don't think this is easy since Spence is at his prime also Thurman is so hungry for a win and saying he will do all just to get back the champions status under his name so provably we can see a great match here. Spence should not take Thurman easy because he's still have capability to win since his hunger could bring good motivation to perform very well.

[Yaunfitda]

Thurman has been inactive after his lost to Pacquiao, he went hiatus and then make a comeback fight against a balloon fighter that Tank Davis has defeated.

Of course this is a much easier fight than Crawford vs Avenasyan, I mean David is a knock out puncher and it's riskier for Crawford if he is caught by that one Hail Mary punch. So this is a win win fight for Errol Spence and PBC since both are in the same stable anyway.

If this fight is made years ago, when Thurman at his prime, then I will say it's 50/50. But not the version of Keith in 2023.

[Kemarit]

Compare to Crawford's opponent Avanesyan, Thurman is a good pick but not a risky one for Spence, Spence will win here but of course, Thurman is going to give him a hard time, Thurman is still good based on what I see on his latest fight he still has it, but skill and power wise, Spence will overpower him, we all expect to see Crawford and Spence winning their respective fights there are no fighters in the welterweight that can match up these two fighters but unfortunately, both fighters don't want to part with their undefeated records.

Yeah, having Thurman in your resume is good, and Spence can claim that he cleared the division, the best of them, Danny Garcia, Ugas, Porter and now Thurman. But as others said, Thurman is not in shape and maybe he is no longer in his prime. But since he is the mandatory then Crawford will have to give him a chance to his belt.

As far as Crawford vs Spence, not going to happen this year.

Not sure though if I will be excited with this fight, but I will say could be one of the best setup fight next year in the Welterweight.

[coin-investor]

As far as Crawford vs Spence, not going to happen this year.

Not sure though if I will be excited with this fight, but I will say could be one of the best setup fight next year in the Welterweight.

If these two, Crawford and Spence cannot give the boxing community the fight that they want and they keep failing to unite the welterweight title then these two should get out of the division, both them should go up, and see if they can beat the competition in that division because there are tougher fighters and champions in the Charlo brothers in the super welterweight.

[bisdak40]

My personal take. This fight will happen since this is a big fight and should be very easy for Spence. Spence should be able to stop this past-prime version of Thurman or at least win an easy unanimous decision if he wants to stay safe.

Agree that this would not be a very hard fight for Errol Spence if this pushes through but just don't know with Spence lately because he seems to avoid big names and we know that Thurman is a name to beat in this division so he might have some hesitation facing this guy.

I think WBC is firm on making this mandatory fight and only Errol Spence's nod is lacking here but there is also a possibility that he will not fight and be stripped of this version of the belt.

[Hypnosis00]

This one is a better fight for Spence, hopefully he is not thinking that he can easily beat Thurman because I'm sure he is wrong since Thurman is a tough challenger. I like Thurman here to win, I'm sure the odds will be very attractive, though I think he will only be a slight underdog but I'm hoping bookies will put him as heavy underdog just for better odds.

[Ziskinberg]

I'm wondering what will be the betting odds for "Keith Thurman decision"?
By the way, I voted that on the poll because I also think that Spence is overrated and Thurman is not yet done, so for me, it's like a championship fight where Thurman is the challenger.

[Saisher]

This one is a better fight for Spence, hopefully he is not thinking that he can easily beat Thurman because I'm sure he is wrong since Thurman is a tough challenger. I like Thurman here to win, I'm sure the odds will be very attractive, though I think he will only be a slight underdog but I'm hoping bookies will put him as heavy underdog just for better odds.

I also like Thurman getting an upset win so the Crawford- Spence will push because now Spence will be the one to go after Crawford instead of the other way around, Spence right now thinks he is the A fighter between the two of them so if Thurman wins the level is even, but this is wishful thinking as we all know Spence is a superior fighter than Thurman, the reality is both Crawford and Spence will eventually win and history will repeat itself between the two and they will dare one another to sign the deal.

[Baofeng]

I was under the impression though that what WBC ordered is a title eliminator between Ortiz Jr. vs Thurman, winner gets Spence for the WBC belt, or at least what Golden Boy promotion want. But I guess the WBC is not keen on that idea, and so decided to have Thurman vs Spence.

But in any case, why not? This is a great fight in my book, style makes fight and I will say that Thurman is a bad match up for Spence. So we will see how Spence is going to adapt on Keith's style.

[Questat]

This one is a better fight for Spence, hopefully he is not thinking that he can easily beat Thurman because I'm sure he is wrong since Thurman is a tough challenger. I like Thurman here to win, I'm sure the odds will be very attractive, though I think he will only be a slight underdog but I'm hoping bookies will put him as heavy underdog just for better odds.

I also like Thurman getting an upset win so the Crawford- Spence will push because now Spence will be the one to go after Crawford instead of the other way around, Spence right now thinks he is the A fighter between the two of them so if Thurman wins the level is even, but this is wishful thinking as we all know Spence is a superior fighter than Thurman, the reality is both Crawford and Spence will eventually win and history will repeat itself between the two and they will dare one another to sign the deal.

The fight you are expecting is not going to happen if Spence will lose this fight. Crawford will just seek a better opponent and that is not him, maybe a Thurman fight will be witnessed if Thurman will win here, so let's hope that it will happen. At least this fight is not 100% one sided, we have boxing fans who still believe that Thurman can still be a champion.

[cabron]

This one is a better fight for Spence, hopefully he is not thinking that he can easily beat Thurman because I'm sure he is wrong since Thurman is a tough challenger. I like Thurman here to win, I'm sure the odds will be very attractive, though I think he will only be a slight underdog but I'm hoping bookies will put him as heavy underdog just for better odds.

I also like Thurman getting an upset win so the Crawford- Spence will push because now Spence will be the one to go after Crawford instead of the other way around, Spence right now thinks he is the A fighter between the two of them so if Thurman wins the level is even, but this is wishful thinking as we all know Spence is a superior fighter than Thurman, the reality is both Crawford and Spence will eventually win and history will repeat itself between the two and they will dare one another to sign the deal.

The fight you are expecting is not going to happen if Spence will lose this fight. Crawford will just seek a better opponent and that is not him, maybe a Thurman fight will be witnessed if Thurman will win here, so let's hope that it will happen. At least this fight is not 100% one sided, we have boxing fans who still believe that Thurman can still be a champion.

I also doubt Thurman will win against Spence. He'd been ducking to fight Spence for years asking an incredible pay. He is in decline for years but the fight may last 12 rounds since he has a good tank. Somehow he was given a shot after defeating Barios.

Crawford vs Spence is not happening, Crawford is now on a different network, and negotiation is off.

[inthelongrun]

I was under the impression though that what WBC ordered is a title eliminator between Ortiz Jr. vs Thurman, winner gets Spence for the WBC belt, or at least what Golden Boy promotion want. But I guess the WBC is not keen on that idea, and so decided to have Thurman vs Spence.

Well, nowadays sanctioning councils do not want to offend big promoters and networks, except probably on the IBF who usually insisted when it comes to its mandatories. But the WBA and WBC as the most corrupt sanctioning bodies in boxing are in constant talks with these big promoters and networks. Vergil Ortiz's title shot is long overdue but we cannot hear mandatory announcements because the WBA/WBC/IBF are with PBC while the WBO was then at Top Rank. Even PBC fighters, the WBA regular Eimantas Stanionis, and IBF mandatory Boots Ennis are sending and petitioning their respective sanctioning bodies to impose and execute their mandatory positions against Spence.

But in any case, why not? This is a great fight in my book, style makes fight and I will say that Thurman is a bad match up for Spence. So we will see how Spence is going to adapt on Keith's style.

This is a big fight indeed because Thurman is still very popular. But I don't think he is the same fighter, the only skill Thurman has these days is his loud mouth. But because he is popular, he is treated like a VIP, he continues to get big fights and title shots. He went inactive for 2 to 3 years but the corrupt WBA didn't even strip his title, the WBC stripped him though. Made a tune-up where he struggled, and was given a shot at Manny Pacquiao right away. Went inactive again then made a tune-up against a 140 guy who was knocked out in his last fight, Thurman backpedaled most of the fight which was supposed to be an easy KO for him. And then here we are WBC mandatory.

I don't think Thurman will return to his usual prime form. He is already rich and unified 2 belts. That first long inactivity made him realize that life is too good to not enjoy while having the money to spend. I don't see his hunger anymore. His previous tune-up says it all. Spence should be able to stop him or cruise to an easy UD.

[Reatim]

the record are almost the same , But I am with Keith Thurman in this round , have not followed Errol Spence career but i did followed Keith and  I know how tough he is.

looking for the Odd that will make me bet for this fight.

I'm wondering what will be the betting odds for "Keith Thurman decision"?
By the way, I voted that on the poll because I also think that Spence is overrated and Thurman is not yet done, so for me, it's like a championship fight where Thurman is the challenger.

well yeah , it may be a thurman to be a challenger but remember that Keith is also a rated boxer and the record shows favoring no one.

[Oasisman]

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~snip~

Crawford vs Spence is not happening, Crawford is now on a different network, and negotiation is off.

There is a possibility, but we all know how big these names are and how huge it could generate money for all parties.
It's off at least now, and it really feels hopeless for the fight to happen, but I know it will happen. Worse thing is, the fight will happen when they're out if their prime.
But atleast this is a more decent match than Crawford's. Not underestimating Avanesyan, but everyone knows he's a bum against Crawford.

[Ziskinberg]

well yeah , it may be a thurman to be a challenger but remember that Keith is also a rated boxer and the record shows favoring no one.

Yes, he is, he only lose his belt to Pacman which is a hall of famer, and now that he is back, pacman out, it can be his team to dominate if he will beat the two champions in this division, and of course, he has to start with Spence Jr.

[Kemarit]

As far as Crawford vs Spence, not going to happen this year.

Not sure though if I will be excited with this fight, but I will say could be one of the best setup fight next year in the Welterweight.

If these two, Crawford and Spence cannot give the boxing community the fight that they want and they keep failing to unite the welterweight title then these two should get out of the division, both them should go up, and see if they can beat the competition in that division because there are tougher fighters and champions in the Charlo brothers in the super welterweight.

I think that is the plan by both, maybe just one more fight in the welterweight and then go up in 154 lbs. However, they are still in the collision course there, we have Charlo as the unified champion, but it will be interesting now if both will move up.

And i guess if this is mandated by the world governing body that Spence is holding the belt, he can't refuse it unless he wants to abandon the belt and not fight his mandatory. But in this case, it's also a PBC fighter to easy to made.