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Thurman talks Spence, says Crawford is ‘barely a champion’

Keith Thurman talks about why people want to see him fight Errol Spence and where Terence Crawford fits into the welterweight mix.

Thurman on fans wanting to see him face Errol Spence:

“I don’t care if they don’t understand boxing. Most people don’t know shit about boxing. You know, one of my favorite quotes from the Mayweathers — and I don’t really enjoy quoting the Mayweathers, you know what I mean — but it’s real. Most people don’t know shit about boxing.

“I haven’t boxed for a long time now and I wanna get back in the ring. Of course it’s gonna be a tune-up, and then a rematch fight [against Shawn Porter] is a respectable fight. To act like it’s not a respectable fight is retarded. But at the end of the day, why do you want Keith and Spence? Why?! [Because it’s] #1 vs. #2. Okay. Of course the world of boxing wants to see #1 vs. #2 because they wanna know does #2 become #1, or is #1 that dude...

“...In my book [Spence] is #2 and he deserves to be #2 because if there wasn’t Keith Thurman, Errol Spence would be #1. That’s because I hold greater credentials than he does, I’ve accomplished a little bit more than he has, and I just was in the spotlight before he was. At the end of the day I’m #1 for a reason, he’s #2 for a reason. The reason you guys wanna see the fight — there’s a good reason, but I’m not gonna come off this big of a layoff, have a tune-up fight, and fight the #2 fighter in the world. That’s just not how it works.

On where Terence Crawford fits into the picture:

“I don’t know. I don’t even really think, um — I mean I don’t think he’s even fought any welterweight yet. I mean to me, I’m sorry to say, but he’s barely a champion. You know what I mean. That Australian [Jeff Horn], give me one eye, give me one arm, I would’ve beat that boy.”

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