By Edward Chaykovsky
WBA 'regular' welterweight champion Keith Thurman (25-0, 21KOs) was hoping to put on an impressive performance this Saturday night to increase his standing in the pecking order of opponents who are pursuing a fight with WBC/WBA full champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26KOs) on September 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
According to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, Thurman's performance is irrelevant - because he's not being considered as a possible opponent.
Thurman will return against Luis Collazo, as part of Premier Boxing Champions event from the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. The fight will be the first PBC card to debut on ESPN.
“Keith Thurman is a very, very good young fighter who is extremely talented, but he doesn’t understand how the game goes,” Ellerbe said to ESPN. “Ain’t nobody (on Team Mayweather) thinking about Keith Thurman. He’s a terrific fighter and he’s supposed to call out Floyd Mayweather. He wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t. But everything we want we don’t always get. Everything takes time and patience. He’s entitled to say whatever he wants to.
“He’s a young, hungry fighter. He’s willing to challenge the top fighters out there but there’s a whole pool of young fighters out there. Last I checked (top prospect) Errol Spence called Keith Thurman out. In my opinion Keith Thurman can’t beat Errol Spence."
“I wish him the best,” Ellerbe said. “He makes me laugh at some of the things he says. He’s funny. He has a great sense of humor. And he got the fight game to back it up. But he’s not on Floyd’s level. That’s no disrespect. Floyd will decide who he’s fighting and then let the world know."