Keith Thurman: ‘I Wanted Khan, Got Collazo’

By Olly Campbell - 07/08/2015 - Comments

This Saturday WBA (reg) welterweight champion Keith Thurman fights Luis Collazo on the inaugural “PBC on ESPN” card, and has spoken out ahead of the contest vis fighthub, to attempt to put to bed some of the criticism he has received over the veteran New Yorker as an opponent, honestly confirming, ‘it’s what came with the timing of the fight.’

Fans have perhaps been harshly critical of “One Time”, who has been following a pretty consistent career arc over the last couple of years, culminating in his solid UD win over Robert Guerrero in March on the debut PBC card.

Thurman spoke frankly about the process of choosing an opponent, and like most fighters, leaves the decision largely to his team – and in his case, Al Haymon – stating that due to logistics, it’s a case of “you can’t always get what you want”, insisting he had wanted a big name – Britain’s Amir Khan.

“When I first got the call from Al Haymon, he started talking about fighters, and I thought he was talking about the list of who we gonna be able to get.”

“Al knows I want Amir Khan, he’s highly aware of that. I actually asked for Amir Khan for this fight – but Amir Khan took another date and another opponent (Algieiri) – then there were rumours about me and Shawn (Porter) competing on this card, then a week later that died out. (He fought Broner)”

“When I got the call, I didn’t know who I was gonna get. Normally he gives me a list of names but he said ‘we got Luis Collazo, I’m pretty sure he’ll sign the contract’ – so for the first time in my career I was only presented with one singular name. And I told you guys a thousand times before – I’m a yes man.”

“I said, ‘OK, Al, it’s not making me – it doesn’t excite me – but you know? He sprung in the news that we’re bring it to your hometown and that’s the excitement for me, personally.”

With his knockout ratio (currently 81%) also taking a hit in his last couple of fights, Thurman was also forced to address the issue of his power declining in the wake of more experienced opponents;

“If I don’t get a knockout, I call that as ‘their good’, not ‘my bad’. You know the no.1 rule in boxing is ‘protect yourself at all times’ – if a fighter has a reputation like I do, these boys train to prepare to be defensive and to protect themselves.”

“Luis Collazo is a good fighter, he’s a veteran, he knows boxing. (He beat) Shane Mosley, my boy Andre Berto. He beat Victor Ortiz, so he’s a respectable fighter.”

And Thurman, who is looking for one or perhaps two more outings in 2015, said of the future;

“I’m looking forward to what I call hitting the ‘next gear’ – with my strength, my conditioning, my focus. I want to stay busy this year and have a great year this year, so we can set up a tremendous year next year.”

Twitter @Undilutedpoison