Dean Lonergan, promoter for WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs), has verbally unloaded on WBC, WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs).
Lonergan was angered after reading some of the recent statements that were made Thurman, who basically said Horn was a non-factor in the welterweight division.
“Unification doesn’t happen except for right here [in the United States]. Ain’t no one worrying about Jeff Horn. That’s real talk,” Thurman said.
Horn makes the first defense of his title, on Australian soil, in December, when he faces Englishman Gary “The Hellraiser’’ Corcoran in Brisbane.
He captured the WBO title back in July with shocking upset decision over eight division champion Manny Pacquiao before a crowd of 51,000 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
Thurman became a unified champion earlier this year, with a twelve round decision over Danny Garcia. He suffered an injury in the bout and spent most of this year on the bench. He plans to return to the ring in the first half of 2018.
Horn is looking to get Concoran out of the way and then move forward to a major fight next year - either against Pacquiao in a rematch or a title defense against Terence Crawford, who is moving up to 147-pounds.
Lonergan believes it is Thurman who is currently irrelevant in the division and openly dares him to come over to Australia for a unification with Horn - promising that Thurman will get sent packing in the same manner that Pacquiao did.
“Keith Thurman right now is an irrelevance,” Lonergan said to the Australian.
“If at any stage Thurman wants to come to Brisbane to try and unify the titles, he will get the same warm welcome and outcome that was served up to our good friend Mr Pacquiao.
“The Hornet is the world’s strongest welterweight and is open to any and all challenges. Should Keith Thurman want to make the mistake of getting into a fight he won’t win and get the thrashing he ... deserves. He should man up and get his promoters to call me, rather than talk tough from 9000 miles away.”