By Carlos Boogs
Last year, Floyd Mayweather Jr. did his best to make a fight between good friend Errol Spence (20-0, 17KOs) and WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22KOs).
Mayweather wanted to make that fight for the Showtime Pay-Per-View undercard of his September return, which he billed as the final fight of his career against Andre Berto.
The fight never came together. Thurman rejected the idea of the fight and accused Mayweather of using Spence as a tool to avoid fighting him in the main event.
Thurman also criticized the professional accomplishments. He said Spence needed to accumulate a few notable wins before he's worthy enough to receive a title shot.
Spence blew past former WBO junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Algieri, who went the distance with Manny Pacquiao, Ruslan Provodnikov and Amir Khan - was demolished in five rounds by Spence.
During the post-fight press conference, Spence took the opportunity to take a verbal swing right back at Thurman. He said Thurman has a single notable win on his record - Robert Guerrero - which came by decision last March.
"I think it was a big statement [what I did with Algieri], especially [when it comes to] Keith Thurman because the only notable win Keith Thurman really has is Robert Guerrero. And he's been pro for eight years and I've been pro for three and a half years," Spence said.
Lou DiBella, who promoted the Spence-Algieri event, chimed in with his own comments on the matter.
"What would happen if this man [Spence] faced Robert Guerrero? He would knock him out, anytime [in his career]. There wasn't a moment in Guerrero's career where this man wouldn't knock him out," DiBella said.
Thurman will defend his title against Shawn Porter on June 25th, also at Barlcays. Spence is planning to be ringside that night as he scouts the competition.
