Thurman: Errol Spence is a Bigger Fight Than Terence Crawford

Former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman is looking to return to his division in the biggest way possible.

Thurman is going to return to the ring against former WBA ‘regular’ junior welterweight champion Mario Barrios on February 5, in the main event of a Fox Sports pay-per-view card.

The bout will be the first for Thurman since losing a twelve round split decision to Manny Pacquiao in July of 2019.

Thurman explained that he could have returned in 2021, against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford, but he claims to have been lowballed by Top Rank.

“We could have fought this year, Bob Arum reached out to me, he was being a stingy motherf—–, he was doing what he do. I never done business with Bob, I don’t care about Bob, I don’t need him, I’m not going to need him,” Thurman told the DAZN Boxing Show.

Thurman seems to be more interested in a fight with unified welterweight champion Errol Spence, who is going to face Yordenis Ugas in a three belt unification in 2022 – with the winner walking away with the WBA, WBC, IBF titles.

The former champion believes that he still brings a lot to the table.

“I might not be a current champion but Thurman vs. these champions is a tremendous challenge,” Thurman said.

“It’s Spence or Crawford, both on the table. I want the biggest fight. You know boxing, we don’t forecast the season. There is no real schedule. I don’t have a real preference, they’re both great fighters, I want both of them. We’re just going to have to see which one is presented. The problem with Bob is they didn’t send me a contract, they were just talking low numbers.

“I think the bigger fight is Spence, because he’s the unified champion, and there’s rumors about Ugas, and that’s three belts.”