:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55993047/689125336.0.jpg)
IBF welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) knows exactly what he wants — a title unification fight with Keith Thurman. But he also knows that the fight isn’t in the cards for the immediate future with Thurman on the sidelines nursing an elbow injury. So Spence tells Sky Sports that he’ll look to make a voluntary title defense until Thurman is good to go.
"Right now I'm trying to get a fight in before Keith Thurman, because he's supposed to be injured right now. He won't come back until early 2018 and I'm not going to wait that long.
"Hopefully I can fight before the year is over with and then fight him later next year."
But even if Spence is happy to keep busy in the interim, he’s not taking his eye’s off Thurman, someone he’s wanted to face for quite some time.
"Even when I was 15 and 0, I was asking for that fight. It's a fight I've wanted for a long time and that's my dream fight right now."
Thurman currently holds the WBC and WBA welterweight titles while Spence is keen on cleaning up the division. The only other titlist is Jeff Horn who currently holds the WBO belt.