“I don’t know if he sees the punches coming. People are stuck in the past. Let go of those things, EJ. Forget about those things, EJ,” Thurman told Fight Hub TV, talking about Spence holding a grudge against him and not wanting to fight him because Keith wouldn’t face him when he was on top.
The irony is sturdy here. In 2016, when Thurman was “One Time” and ruling the division, he famously told Spence to “stay in line” and wait his turn. Now that the tables have turned and Spence has moved on from his loss to Crawford, Thurman is suddenly preaching about letting go of the past. It’s challenging to take “Drop it, EJ” seriously when it sounds less like a peace offer and more like an attempt to get the final substantial paycheck.
Spence has repeatedly said that he is no longer interested in fighting Thurman because Thurman would not have fought him when he was at his peak, which was from 2015-2017. This was when Keith held the WBA and WBC welterweight titles and Spence tried to fight him.
This Saturday night on Amazon Prime PPV, Thurman will fight WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora and he is not expected to win.
There are a few reasons this seems so desperate right now: First, looking beyond the 6’6″ Fundora is perilous. If Thurman is weakened or overtrained this Saturday, any mention of the Spence fight will immediately disappear. He’s campaigning for a fight he may not even be eligible to fight on Sunday morning.
For Spence, freezing out Thurman isn’t just a grudge; it’s about brand management. He spent years being ignored by the top dog. Now that he has the upper hand, giving Thurman the opportunity he was once denied feels like a betrayal of his own journey to the top.
Thurman mentioned that the biggest fight of Spence’s career was “supposed” to be against him. This may have been true in 2017, but after Crawford’s masterclass, the boxing world changed. Thurman is trying to revive a rivalry that the public has largely retreated from.
“How do you want to represent yourself now, EJ? What are you going to do with Keith Thurman now? The biggest fight of your career was supposed to be the Keith Thurman fight that ended with Terence Crawford,” Thurman said.
Thurman is still a great speaker, but the “salesman” talk is obvious as he tries to convince Spence to do something that will benefit Keith much more than Errol. If he loses to Fundora, all this press will age poorly.
Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, respected for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fighting landscape. His reports focus on the most significant fights, division development and the most discussed stories in sports.