Thurman: If I Get Maidana Next, I'll Go Through Him!

By Ryan Burton

26-year-old Keith "One Time" Thurman (24-0) wrapped up another successful year with a dominating shutout victory over the previously undefeated Leonard Bundu (31-1-2) on Saturday evening in a fight televised on Showtime Championship Boxing.  Prior to the fight, Thurman called out Floyd Mayweather, mocking the pound-for-pound king's nickname saying that in 2015 he was going to burn "Money".  After the fight he also said that he would be willing to face rugged Argentine slugger Marcos "Chino" Maidana, who gave Mayweather two competitive fights in 2015.

"At the end of the day I will take any fight in the division. I got an "0" that I'm not afraid to let go. TBE (The Best Ever) come beat me. I am going to be training all of 2015 for Floyd. It doesn't matter if I get him or don't get him. My focus is going to be on upping my skills and  my talent to beat the best in the industry. If before I get the best I get Maidana, we will go through him," Thurman explained.

While Bundu is a lot shorter and not as elusive as Mayweather, Thurman agreed that going 12 rounds against a defensive fighter will pay dividends if a fight against Mayweather occurs in the future.

"Exactly man. I was really happy that I was able to be in with an intelligent fighter. An ex-Olympian. Someone who feints a lot because Floyd feints. Bundu didn't have a jab but Floyd has a jab and better reflexes but it is a learning experience. Now we can go back to the gym and we have some things to work on," Thurman told BoxingScene.com.

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter