Many are searching far and wide for a suitable opponent to step into the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. following his total decimation of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez; rising star Keith "One-Time" Thurman is making some noise about wanting a chance.
Thurman doesn't have the name recognition yet to generate enough buzz for a fight with "Money" Mayweather, but he does have the knockout power to build himself into a star. He is 21-0-0 with 19 knockouts, and many are accusing Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero, Mayweather's opponent in May, of ducking "One-Time."
Thurman stepped up in competition recently, doing battle with fellow undefeated fighter Diego Gabriel Chaves, and met the challenge. He was rocked a few times, but fought through his struggles and eventually put the tough-as-nails Chaves down. Now, he's saying Jesus Soto-Karass will be his next "knockout victim."
"It looks like the next knockout victim will be Soto-Karass. I'll probably end up fighting Soto-Karass, then something big in 2014," Thurman said. Soto-Karass has proven to be a quality boxer with an excellent chin, but Thurman seems unconcerned. "You know me baby, nothing but knockouts. It only takes one from One-Time."
Could "something big in 2014" be a big-money fight with the pound-for-pound king? Thurman thinks so. "One-Time" told RingTV.com, "To me, I'm ready to be on that world-class level and to break into that elite group of fighters. I've been boxing and training my whole life, and I have a lot of passion and a lot of desire to be a champion."
In the same interview, Thurman addressed the issues with securing a bout against Guerrero, who figures to help raise Thurman's profile more than Soto-Karass.
"He was proposed the fight by Richard Schaefer, and he said 'No thanks.' I don't know what he's doing in his career right now. I just know that he didn't have a fight lined up. He's a great fighter and I was hoping to step into the ring with one of the big names out there. But obviously, he's just another one that doesn't want to fight Keith Thurman."
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