WBA, WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman is really looking to take it easy for his planning comeback fight.
Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) is scheduled to return to the ring against an unnamed opponent on May 19th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
His last fight also took place at Barclays, when he won a twelve round split decision over Danny Garcia to unify their welterweight belts in March of 2017.
Thurman had a pre-fight elbow injury that required surgery, and kept him out of the ring for the remainder of the year.
The rumored opponent for Thurman was former two division world champion Jessie Vargas, but BoxingScene.com reported two weeks ago that Vargas was ruled out at the comeback foe.
Thurman admits that his next opponent is likely not going to be anyone of a high caliber, but the second fight of the year will be against someone of a better quality.
Because of the long layoff and the elbow surgery, Thurman is being very cautious with his next fight.
First thing is first, We just want to make sure that we're back completely. I might not even fight anybody in the top ten in my comeback fight. We'll have to see what we negotiate, but outside of that, the second fight should not really be against the number 2 guy. I can go after someone from the top seven up, the top five up, but shouldn't be the number two guy," Thurman told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
The fight everyone wants to see is against IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence (23-0, 20 KOs), who wants to face Thurman as soon as possible.
Spence returned to the ring last month and dominated Lamont Peterson to secure a stoppage victory. He is scheduled to return on June 16th in a Showtime televised fight from his hometown of Dallas, Texas. The opponent has yet to be determined.
