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Keith Thurman: Mayweather should be scared of me

Keith Thurman is ramping up the hype, and is really going after a showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

Keith "One Time" Thurman has a habit of drawing attention when he speaks, and he might have done it on a new level at this evening's weigh-in event for tomorrow night's Showtime card in Las Vegas.

When he was asked after weighing in if he'd like to fight Floyd Mayweather next, Thurman (23-0, 21 KO) came back with a true call-out.

"Floyd is supposed to be TBE, and I wanna fight the best. I wanna fight the man," Thurman said, before switching gears and really laying down the heat.

"It ain't like Floyd's gonna knock me out. When has Floyd knocked anybody out in the past several years?" The statement drew oohs and aahs from those in attendance, driving Thurman to stay on the offensive.

"If anybody should be scared, it should be him. If anything, I'm gonna get a great learning experience in my career, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to destroying Mr. Floyd 'Money' Mayweather."

Thurman closed with a catchphrase that might just take off: "I have a motto. This is my personal motto, it's called Burn Money. Burn Money, 2015. We gettin' ready to burn 'Money'!"

Thurman was then asked if he'd like to fight Marcos Maidana next, so the fighter polled the crowd, and got the response back that Mayweather, not Maidana, is the fight they want to see.

If Thurman beats Leonard Bundu tomorrow night, should he be next for Mayweather, if the Pacquiao idea again fizzles out, as most expect it will? Will Mayweather take that risk against a dangerous puncher who also doesn't have a lot of name value, and won't even have a "one big win" to work off of?

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