The speculation was that Floyd Mayweather was waiting to see how Keith Thurman did in his fight against Luis Collazo before announcing his next fight. It sounds like Thurman has been ruled out of the Floyd Mayweather sweepstakes though.
While Keith Thurman really wants the fight, and so do many fans, according to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, the fight will not happen.
“Keith Thurman is a very, very good young fighter who is extremely talented, but he doesn’t understand how the game goes,” Ellerbe told ESPN. “Ain’t nobody [on Team Mayweather] thinking about Keith Thurman.
“He’s a terrific fighter and he’s supposed to call out Floyd Mayweather. He wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t. But everything we want we don’t always get. Everything takes time and patience. He’s entitled to say whatever he wants to.
“He’s a young, hungry fighter. He’s willing to challenge the top fighters out there but there’s a whole pool of young fighters out there. Last I checked [top prospect] Errol Spence called Keith Thurman out. In my opinion Keith Thurman can’t beat Errol Spence.”
Ellerbe said Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) has not decided yet whom he will face -- even though Mayweather has mentioned possibly fighting Andre Berto or lightly regarded Karim Mayfield. But Ellerbe said it will not be Thurman.
“I wish him the best,” Ellerbe said of Thurman. “He makes me laugh at some of the things he says. He’s funny. He has a great sense of humor. And he got the fight game to back it up. But he’s not on Floyd’s level. That’s no disrespect. Floyd will decide who he’s fighting and then let the world know."
“He’ll decide who he wants to fight and then make the announcement how he wants to make it. But every last one of them, young and old, want to fight Floyd. If I was in their situation I’d be calling his ass out too because Floyd Mayweather represents the biggest payday out of all of them.”
So, let me get this straight - Keith Thurman doesn't deserve a shot and is not on Floyd's level, but Andre Berto and Karim Mayfield are??
