Keith Thurman has got a list of top names he wants to fight if he’s victorious against WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora in their rescheduled fight in January 2026.
Crawford Tops the Fantasy
Virtually all the names on the 37-year-old former WBA and WBO welterweight champion Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) are fantasy ones with almost no chance of happening without him pulling off a miracle upset of Fundra (23-1-1, 15 KOs).
Thurman’s hit list
- Terence Crawford – *Thurman’s #1 pick
- Jermell Charlo
- Vergil Ortiz Jr.
- Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero
- Manny Pacquiao
- Errol Spence
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
The most interesting name on Thurman’s list is Crawford. Out of all the fighters that ‘One Time’ is targeting, Crawford is the least likely to want to fight him. Even with an improbable win over Fundora, Keith is still not going to have the popularity to lure Terence to fight him.
“Vergil Ortiz is [possible], because they were offering me Vergil Ortiz right before they offered me Fundora,” said Keith Thurman to Brian Custer’s channel, about who he wants to fight next if he’s victorious against Sebastian Fundora in their rescheduled fight in January 2026.
Three Years or Three Illusions?
If Vergil defeats Erickson Lubin on November 8th, his next fight is almost surely going to be against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in early 2026. So, Thurman would have to wait for him to get a shot against Ortiz Jr. It’s a good thing that Keith is saying that he wants to fight three more years, because that increases the chances of him eventually getting a fight against Vergil Jr. or Ennis.
“They never sent me the Vergil contract. Otherwise, it would have got signed first. Then there are some big fights, like Thurman vs. Charlo. We were supposed to have had Thurman vs. Spence a long time ago. We could do the throwback,” said Thurman.
If Spence comes back in 2026, a fight between him and Thurman would interest older boxing fans. Seeing these two finally fight after a decade would be fun.
“I might get a contract if I get the winner of Rolly and Pacquiao. There’s ‘Boots’ Ennis, but his team wants tune-ups. Thurman vs. Crawford. If he wants to come back down, that’s something for us,” said Thurman.
