Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr (28-0, 22 KOs) and Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) are finalizing a deal for a fight on PBC pay-per-view in April in the junior middleweight division.
Spence vs. Thurman is a fight that boxing fans have wanted to see since 2016, and it’s better late than never.
It’s a shame that the 34-year-old Thurman is no longer in his prime and fighting in the same form he was in seven years ago when Spence was pushing him for a fight.
At the time, Thurman wanted to let the fight marinate, but little did he know that his career would stagnate due to a combination of injuries and his enjoying the fruits of his labor.
ESPN is reporting that the World Boxing Association president Gilberto Mendoza has granted Spence authorization to keep his WBA welterweight title while he goes up to 154 to face the 34-year-old Thurman.
Afterward, Spence will have two months [60 days] to negotiate a deal for the undisputed match against WBO champion Terence Crawford.
If there is no deal in that time, Spence will be ordered to fight the winner of the Eimantas Stanionis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr fight, which is taking place around April.
It’s unclear why Spence is choosing to fight Thurman at 154, but it could be that Keith has packed on too much weight for him to lose it by April.
Thurman hadn’t fought since February of last year when he defeated Mario Barrios, and he tends to blow up between fights by putting on a lot of weight. If that’s the case here, it makes sense for the Spence-Thurman fight to take place at 154.
In Spence’s case, he might be looking to get his feet wet in the junior middleweight division, and this will give him an excellent trial run before he makes his permanent move up to the weight class.
There won’t be a title on the line for the Spence vs. Thurman fight in April unless one of the sanctioning bodies wants to create one specifically to get some publicity and a sanctioning fee.
“Errol Spence and Keith Thurman are finalizing a deal for a PBC on PPV fight that is expected to take place in April,” said ESPN. “This matchup will take place at junior middleweight.
“Spence will have 60 days from the fight, Mendoza said, to close a deal for a bout with Terence Crawford. If not, Spence must defend his 147-pound title against the winner of the postponed WBA “regular” title fight between Vergil Ortiz and Eimantas Stanionis.”