By Keith Idec

If Keith Thurman could’ve chosen his next opponent, it wouldn’t have been Luis Collazo.

Politically correct answers aside, Thurman wants bigger, more meaningful fights. But the 26-year-old Thurman also understands that he’ll have to continue to remain patient in his pursuit of huge paydays and higher-profile fights.

“A lot of people, they’re just impatient in this sport,” Thurman while discussing his July 11 fight against Collazo in Tampa, Fla. “They want to talk a little bit now, but they want to talk about more later. It takes time for big fights to blow up. It happens. Me and my team, we take one fight at a time. We’re looking forward to July 11th. We trained for July 11th. We’re not training for anything else. I’m happy to be performing in my hometown, defending my title in my hometown and putting on a show. It’s going to be an exciting event.”

ESPN will televise the 12-round bout between Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs), of Clearwater, Fla., and Collazo (36-6, 19 KOs), of Queens, N.Y., as the main event of a PBC On ESPN telecast from the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome. If the heavily favored Thurman overcomes Collazo, who was dominated by Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) in May 2014, the welterweight division is full of Al Haymon-backed boxers the WBA welterweight title-holder could face in the fall.

Thurman wants nothing more than a shot at undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs), but it’s much more likely he’ll box another opponent later this year. He has learned to accept the reality that the 38-year-old Mayweather probably will retire without fighting him.

“It’s an industry,” Thurman said. “It’s a business. It takes time. I’ve learned that. I’ve been on the scene for three years now. Just earlier this year, I got my first fighter in the top 10 [Robert Guerrero on March 7].

“To a degree, it’s a struggle. It’s a grind, but I look forward to the grind. I enjoy the grind. My whole life, all I wanted was to be a professional boxer. And here we are, WBA world champion. So to me, I’m a young boy who made his dreams come true. I’m just trying to fulfill my dreams.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.