Keith "One-Time" Thurman, the undefeated WBA World welterweight champion, wasn't happy when his management presented Luis Collazo, his July 11 opponent, as the only name to choose from for his next fight. Thurman is headlining the first Premier Boxing Champions fight card to air on ESPN, but the matchup has been criticized as a weak one.
Collazo is listed by Bovoda as a massive -1,400 underdog against Thurman this weekend, and although Collazo is a veteran, Thurman said he was hoping for a bigger challenge.
"Collazo was not on my priority list, but at the end of the day I wanted to stay active, and for the first time in my career, when they called me for my next fight, they only gave me one name. Normally I hear a list of names," Thurman said.
"This time they said 'Luis Collazo will fight you.' I said 'okay.' What else am I going to say? 'Go find somebody else?' Shawn Porter was fighting with Adrien Broner. Amir Khan took another fight."
Porter went on to notch arguably the most important victory of his career against Broner on June 20, while Khan struggled to a unanimous decision victory against Chris Algieri. Khan was expected to dominate Algieri and shine so bright that Floyd Mayweather Jr. would take notice, but the victory only further muddled the pool of challengers for Mayweather this September.
Khan has said he is open to fighting Thurman, but the priority is Mayweather. Now Thurman is likely hoping for a devastating knockout-his first since April 2014, two fights ago-so he can sneak in past Khan like Marcos Maidana did last year.
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