By Keith Idec

Terence Crawford’s head trainer doesn’t consider Errol Spence Jr.’s size advantage an insurmountable obstacle.

In fact, Brian McIntyre doesn’t even think Spence is the welterweight champion that poses the greatest threat to Crawford’s perfect record. That distinction, according to McIntyre, belongs to Keith Thurman.

The often-injured Thurman hasn’t fought in nearly two years, yet McIntyre maintains Thurman would be a more imposing opponent for Crawford than Spence.

During a recent interview with Fight Hub TV, McIntyre responded, “probably Thurman,” when asked who among WBC champ Shawn Porter, Spence and Thurman would provide Crawford with his toughest test.

When reminded that the 5-feet-10 Spence’s size seemingly would trouble the 5-feet-8 Crawford, McIntyre pointed toward Thurman’s strengths.

“You see what size does to you – nothing – when he beat Benavidez,” McIntyre said, referring to Crawford’s 12th-round stoppage of Benavidez in his last fight. “Benavidez is way bigger than him, taller than him. But that didn’t mean nothing. You know, his punches didn’t even move Terence. So, size don’t mean anything. But Thurman – he’s mobile, good with his punches. He punches from different angles.”

The 30-year-old Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) will fight January 26 for the first time since defeating Danny Garcia by split decision in their welterweight title unification fight in March 2017. Elbow surgery performed the month after he beat Garcia at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and a subsequent hand injury have delayed Thurman’s return to the ring.

The Clearwater, Florida, native is set to defend his WBA “super” welterweight title against Josesito Lopez (36-7, 19 KOs) two weeks from Saturday night at Barclays Center. FOX will air Thurman’s 12-round, 147-pound championship match against Lopez, of Riverside, California, as the main event of a two-bout broadcast that night.

Crawford, meanwhile, is headed for a WBO welterweight title defense versus England’s Amir Khan.

Contracts haven’t been finalized, but as BoxingScene.com first reported Friday, Khan (33-4, 20 KOs) has agreed to challenge Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs) on April 20. Their ESPN Pay-Per-View main event likely will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York.

If the heavily favored Crawford defeats Khan, McIntyre hopes Porter, Thurman or Spence agrees to fight the three-division champion from Omaha, Nebraska.

Las Vegas’ Porter (29-2-1, 17 KOs) will make the first defense of his WBC welterweight crown March 9 against Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas (23-3, 11 KOs) at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (FOX). A week later, Spence (24-0, 21 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, is scheduled to defend his IBF welterweight crown against four-division champion Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs), of Oxnard, California, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (FOX Pay-Per-View).

“One of the champions – Porter, Spence or Thurman,” McIntyre said, citing Crawford’s wish list. “You know what I’m saying? We want the best, man. You know, we’re getting older now. Terence said he wanna call it quits in the near future, so we might as well go ahead and get the big guys out there, the other champions.”

That said, McIntyre doesn’t anticipate Crawford facing one of his fellow welterweight champions later this year, “Because they don’t want none of that work. They don’t wanna mess with Terence, man. They see what Terence do to people. He ruin careers.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.