Realistically, when will Spence fight Crawford/Thurman??

Thurman has plenty of time to get in a tune up and a mandatory before fighting Spence at the end of the year. kk lmk the next time thurman fights 3 times in a calendar year . . .

Crawford is anyones guess due to Uncle Bob/Haymon politics, but there is zero reason why Thurman vs Spence shouldnt happen this year. Zero. They are with the same gottdamn promoter Thurman is still not back from an injury. There's no reason that pushing it back should be an issue for Thurman, he's so far got the best names on his resume and has been fighting injuries the past couple of years.

There's a great reason. Money. The fight would be much bigger next year than it would be this year. Most casual fans don't even know who Spence is yet. He just won his first world title (as the B-side). He's about to headline Showtime Championship Boxing as the A-side for the very first time. Keith is coming back from injury against a credible opponent and then will have to make at least one mandatory defense. Spence has the IBF belt and therefore will have to worry about another mandatory very soon. So fighting each other in the big March CBS fight next year makes way more business sense than fighting each other this year. Thurman has plenty of time to get in a tune up and a mandatory before fighting Spence at the end of the year.

there is zero reason why Thurman vs Spence shouldnt happen this year. Zero. They are with the same gottdamn promoter There's a great reason. Money. The fight would be much bigger next year than it would be this year. Most casual fans don't even know who Spence is yet. He just won his first world title (as the B-side). He's about to headline Showtime Championship Boxing as the A-side for the very first time. Keith is coming back from injury against a credible opponent and then will have to make at least one mandatory defense. Spence has the IBF belt and therefore will have to worry about another mandatory very soon. So fighting each other in the big March CBS fight next year makes way more business sense than fighting each other this year.

Crawford is anyones guess due to Uncle Bob/Haymon politics, but there is zero reason why Thurman vs Spence shouldnt happen this year. Zero. They are with the same gottdamn promoter

Last I checked, Spence wanted to fight in August in his hometown in Texas last year. What the hell happened? Spence fought the last week of May. In a long grueling fight overseas. Even if Showtime was willing to give him another date 8-12 weeks later (and honestly how many guys are headlining premium cable dates with that kind of frequency), you really think he was going to be ready to start another training camp for his first defense two weeks after the Brook fight? Last I checked, you have absolutely no way of knowing what Spence actually wanted, but anybody with common sense would have known August was never going to happen and wouldn't have happened no matter who his manager, promoter, or network was. Then why don't you just say Crawford is promoted by Arum. Spence is promoted by Haymon. The end? Because despite saying that in another thread, and despite ignoring Crawford for the very reasons you laid out, you then specifically asked me to comment on when a Crawford fight would happen. Sorry you don't like the answer. When all the top welterweights are aligned with Haymon/Showtime except for one guy aligned with Arum/ESPN, and Haymon/Showtime have the three most important championships and Arum/ESPN only have the bogus title, any boxing fan should be rooting for Crawford to switch sides. Why would you root for Spence to switch sides when it would just further the divide instead of ending it?

Letting it build slow for me is a better model anyway compared to the UFC where they just throw a top fighter against each other. It doesn't give time for fans to get behind guys in their way up and constantly putting their fighters against elites shortens their career and that why the UFC is lacking in stars right now because they don't marinate enough Obviously there's a fine line but you want to build these fights up and that takes time This marination thing should be discouraged. It's actually stupid especially coming from fans. It assumes things will always be perfect in the interim, ie, no injuries incurred, no upsets, etc. Like the other poster mentioned, the Brook Spence fought had orbital bone injury. Many fights were fought with one or the other got put to sleep, no longer in his prime element... Man, we don't even know what's in store for us tomorrow, let alone weeks, months, years...

You realize all the fights you listed didn't happen all at once it was a couple year span. The same can be said in the last 3 years there's been GGg/Canelo Canelo / Cotto May / PAC The Cruiserweight SBSS winner Thurman / Garcia LSC / Frampton That's the problem with boxing fans they romanticize the past too much instead of appreciating what here now. There may not be a prime Roy Jones fighting now but there's Prime Crawford , Spence , Canelo , AJ/ wilder , Loma maybe the Charlios all great fighters writing their legacys now This is so wrong , the plan to unify a new WW champ has been years in the making since probably before May / PAC I remember watching a Mayweather PPV I forget which one and they interviewed like Garcia , Thurman , Porter or something like that planting seeds to the viewers about setting up a true WW champ. I remember watching that like last year and realizing this plan has been in place years before the fans even figured it out. Letting it build slow for me is a better model anyway compared to the UFC where they just throw a top fighter against each other. It doesn't give time for fans to get behind guys in their way up and constantly putting their fighters against elites shortens their career and that why the UFC is lacking in stars right now because they don't marinate enough Obviously there's a fine line but you want to build these fights up and that takes time I like your post. Thank you for explaining it so well. Maybe I'm being a little impatient, but I still do wanna see the top dogs fighting each other soon. It seems like everything is being marinated too long these days, tho! Your post reminded me of my boy Erickson Lubin. That fight was too soon!

Spence wants the champions. He got IBF champion Kell Brook and knocked him out. Now he's getting WBA champion Lamont Peterson (although he's had to vacate to take the fight). Next year he'll likely get WBC & Super WBA champion Keith Thurman (or whoever holds those titles). There's no other manager or promoter on planet Earth that could deliver Spence more opportunities at welterweight than Al Haymon.Last I checked, Spence wanted to fight in August in his hometown in Texas last year. What the hell happened? Hahahah no because I was specifically asked about Crawford. Maybe you should actually read the thread? Then why don't you just say Crawford is promoted by Arum. Spence is promoted by Haymon. The end? Whoops. You're scared for Tank, but not for Spence. I know. Cold wars are instant excuses when it fits the argument. Hehe... loma is promoted by top rank and exclusive to espn. tank is promoted by mayweather and exclusive to pbc. the end. Defending Haymon is futile doe.

I know, bro. Been following boxing for almost 20 years. Now a heavy disinterest is setting in day by day. Maybe, as a fan, I might last until the end of this year. If nothing interesting happens, I will say goodbye to boxing. Gone are the days of Vargas-Trinidad, PBF-Corrales, Barrera-Morales, Toney-Jirov, prime Roy Jones, Sergio Martinez, Hamed, and Pacquiao, etc. These days, you can't even get something like Canelo-Charlo-Saunders or GGG-Charlo-Saunders. Yep.. Very depressing! You realize all the fights you listed didn't happen all at once it was a couple year span. The same can be said in the last 3 years there's been GGg/Canelo Canelo / Cotto May / PAC The Cruiserweight SBSS winner Thurman / Garcia LSC / Frampton That's the problem with boxing fans they romanticize the past too much instead of appreciating what here now. There may not be a prime Roy Jones fighting now but there's Prime Crawford , Spence , Canelo , AJ/ wilder , Loma maybe the Charlios all great fighters writing their legacys now You are right. It doesn't go just one way. PBC has no vision. This is so wrong , the plan to unify a new WW champ has been years in the making since probably before May / PAC I remember watching a Mayweather PPV I forget which one and they interviewed like Garcia , Thurman , Porter or something like that planting seeds to the viewers about setting up a true WW champ. I remember watching that like last year and realizing this plan has been in place years before the fans even figured it out. Letting it build slow for me is a better model anyway compared to the UFC where they just throw a top fighter against each other. It doesn't give time for fans to get behind guys in their way up and constantly putting their fighters against elites shortens their career and that why the UFC is lacking in stars right now because they don't marinate enough Obviously there's a fine line but you want to build these fights up and that takes time

"Potential" is nonsensical when the fights he wants don't get made. Spence wants the champions. He got IBF champion Kell Brook and knocked him out. Now he's getting WBA champion Lamont Peterson (although he's had to vacate to take the fight). Next year he'll likely get WBC & Super WBA champion Keith Thurman (or whoever holds those titles). There's no other manager or promoter on planet Earth that could deliver Spence more opportunities at welterweight than Al Haymon. Why do you even talk about Crawford when you just said in another thread the story should end when fighters have different promoters? Because it suits you this time, eh? Hahahah no because I was specifically asked about Crawford. Maybe you should actually read the thread?

He's not leaving Haymon. Haymon has every potential prominent opponent except for Crawford. "Potential" is nonsensical when the fights he wants don't get made. Why do you even talk about Crawford when you just said in another thread the story should end when fighters have different promoters? Because it suits you this time, eh? loma is promoted by top rank and exclusive to espn. tank is promoted by mayweather and exclusive to pbc. the end.

Or you could also say if Spence is having a hard time getting fights inside PBC, there's no sense in talking about fighters from other promotional outfit. How is he having a hard time getting fights? He won his first world title in his last fight and is now the A-side in the main event of a Showtime Championship Boxing card at Barclays center against another world champion who just vacated to face him. If he's successful, there are numerous prominent fighters in his weight class that share the same manager that he'll be able to fight for years to come, including a WBC/WBA/IBF unification fight. The only fighter he won't have access to is (soon to be) WBOgus champ Crawford. Crawford will have to hide behind that belt for a long time while Spence will have the opportunity to fight for all of the other titles. Or you could also say unless Spence leaves Haymon and gets tired of being put on the shelf with no fault of his own. He's not leaving Haymon. Haymon has every potential prominent opponent except for Crawford.

Probably when one or the other is no longer in his prime, or suffered orbital bone injury. It's possible Peterson could be healthier than the Brook Spence fought. Who knows?

...when will Spence... Probably when one or the other is no longer in his prime, or suffered orbital bone injury.

Or you could also say if Spence is having a hard time getting fights inside PBC, there's no sense in talking about fighters from other promotional outfit. Or you could also say unless Spence leaves Haymon and gets tired of being put on the shelf with no fault of his own. You are right. It doesn't go just one way. PBC has no vision.

most likely never, unless crawford realizes he shouldn't continue to sign exclusive promotional agreements with a promoter that has no access to the best welterweights. Or you could also say if Spence is having a hard time getting fights inside PBC, there's no sense in talking about fighters from other promotional outfit. Or you could also say unless Spence leaves Haymon and gets tired of being put on the shelf with no fault of his own.

For the most part I agree, but I can't rush and dismiss TC. He's a hell of a fighter and I think gives Spence looks he isn't accustomed to. Spence is bigger and stronger, but I wonder if TC cam confuse him long enough to win a UD/SD. Tough not seeing Spence win since we haven't seen him lose many rounds let alone fights, but TC is veryyyyy crafty XD I love Crawford's fighting style. He's one of my favorites, but I honestly can't see him beating Spence right now, maybe in a couple of years, depending on how their careers go. Crawford is the more experienced, proven, and closer to elite. I'd love to find out.

Thurman next year. Him and Crawford will never fight.

Very hard to tell. Crawford is TR so there's no way to predict when/if that fight happens. Thurman is Haymon and I'd be surprised if AL feeds him to Spencer unless Spencer signs long-tern with AL. Might not be 2018 at all. TC v Thurman likely to happen first and I see TC hurting and clearly out boxing KT if/when it goes down I very much agree with you. Crawford pulverizes Thurman, at any point, so it won't happen. Spence would batter and damage Crawford in a close fight, maybe stop him, so that won't happen, either. Spence is a BIG, strong, and very skilled fighter, which is why many welters are avoiding him. I've said many times that Spence should move up and look for challenges. That won't happen, as long as he's getting good money to fight semi-decent guys like Peterson, Khan, Porter, Garcia, etc. Sad state of boxing.