Keith Thurman is kicking himself for missing out on an upcoming welterweight unification bout that he believes should have involved himself.

IBF and WBC titlist Errol Spence Jr. and WBA titlist Yordenis Ugas will battle April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in a 12-round 147-pound unification bout on Showtime Pay-Per-View.

Thurman, a former titlist who is coming off an extended years-long layoff with 12-round decision over Mario Barrios in February, said it was “frustrating” to see Spence and Ugas fight for three of the four major welterweight titles, particularly because he played a pivotal, albeit in his opinion inadvertent, part in allowing this fight to be made.

Thurman pointed to his close points loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2019 as the chief reason why Spence and Ugas will fight each other this spring.

“If Ugas and Spence are to fight, it’s frustrating,” Thurman said in a video published by Premier Boxing Champions. “Because one of the only reasons why any of that has manifested is because Thurman has lost to Manny Pacquiao back in the summer of 2019.

“None of this would have been able to manifest with a victory over Manny Pacquiao.”

After his win over Thurman, Pacquiao was expected to take on Spence last June, but Spence ended up having to pull out of the bout because of a retinal tear. That allowed Ugas to step in as a last-minute replacement and face Pacquiao last June as scheduled. Ugas scored the upset, winning convincingly by unanimous decision, sending Pacquiao into retirement, and securing his own place in a fight against Spence.

“Manny Pacquiao comes back, loses to Ugas, last minute placement, but it wasn’t a good fight stylistically. Ugas is a very big welterweight. He had that long reach. He’s a Cuban fighter. Stylistically it wasn’t a good matchup, but Manny wanted to put on a show for the fans and he stepped away from the sport of boxing.

“But now Ugas is in a better position, holding onto the WBA title that I once had, getting a fight with Spence which should be my fight.”

Given that he is out of the title picture at the moment, Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) said it was doubly important for him to put on a strong showing in another fight this year. Thurman has previously expressed a desire to fight for a title by the end of the year, presumably against the winner of Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) and Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs). Like Spence and Ugas, Thurman is managed by Al Haymon of PBC.

“So that’s why it’s very important for Thurman to come back this year,” Thurman said. “It’s very important to come back strong so I can make a statement and show them, with or without a belt, I’m one of the greatest welterweights in the welterweight division today.”