Keef Thurman (Before His Injury): They Gave Me Options: Stanionis, Ugas, Boots. I Told Al, Give Me Stanionis Or Ugas And I'll Fight Boots Next, Then Tszyu Got Offered For Title Guarantee

[Combat Talk Radio]

Full epsiode of Porter Way Podcast, has timestamps. Keef starts around 6:40 and the specifics are around 17:20

So apparently, Keef had a guarantee for a title shot if he beat Tszyu (Which would have either been Jermell or a Tszyu rematch for an actual title), and that was the reason for the Caneloweight, is so he could prove he was worth the title shot.

Also said: don't give him options. Just say, "to get paid, you must fight Boots" but because he got options, he took the option that he thought made sense. He was going to fight Stanionis when Tszyu got offered.

[rickJen]

What is the issue?

[Combat Talk Radio]

What is the issue?

No issue - but Keef got a lot of flack for not fighting Ugas and Boots. Then he got flack for the Tszyu fight which wasn't even a full jr. middleweight fight, it was Caneloweight (152). He's explaining the logic of why he accepted the deal vs. just fighting 147 guys. And he's saying that he wasn't sitting on the shelf, he was actively training for a fight.

Which is probably how he ended up injured (overtraining).

[rickJen]

No issue - but Keef got a lot of flack for not fighting Ugas and Boots. Then he got flack for the Tszyu fight which wasn't even a full jr. middleweight fight, it was Caneloweight (152). He's explaining the logic of why he accepted the deal vs. just fighting 147 guys. And he's saying that he wasn't sitting on the shelf, he was actively training for a fight.

Which is probably how he ended up injured (overtraining).

Tszyu got more flak for the non-title fight than Thurman did. Keith even got props for taking the fight.
What I like to know is why is Thurman the only one who got offered the Tszyu fight?
Why wasn't it offered to Crawford, Boots, Charlo, even Ramos would have been more meaningful than the OneTime fight
knowing that Lubin turned it down.

[crimsonfalcon07]

Tszyu got more flak for the non-title fight than Thurman did. Keith even got props for taking the fight.
What I like to know is why is Thurman the only one who got offered the Tszyu fight?
Why wasn't it offered to Crawford, Boots, Charlo, even Ramos would have been more meaningful than the OneTime fight
knowing that Lubin turned it down.

Likely because they know Bud is a tough enough fight that they're worried they lose, and they want a few more cash out fights for Tszyu first. I bet they did offer it to Charlo and he ignored them. Guy is out like a kitten after his Canelo beating, both him and his brother.

[rickJen]

Likely because they know Bud is a tough enough fight that they're worried they lose, and they want a few more cash out fights for Tszyu first. I bet they did offer it to Charlo and he ignored them. Guy is out like a kitten after his Canelo beating, both him and his brother.

We can only speculate. The media should make things clear for everybody, so no one has to guess.
But "they" doesn't necessarily mean Team Tszyu. It could mean PBC which would be the main entity that make fights happen.

[crimsonfalcon07]

We can only speculate. The media should make things clear for everybody, so no one has to guess.
But "they" doesn't necessarily mean Team Tszyu. It could mean PBC which would be the main entity that make fights happen.

Well, we've also got rumors that Tszyu's manager wants him to vacate his WBO belt if he wins to duck Bud and fight Spence instead. That's not a good sign for team Tszyu. But time will tell.

[joesaiditstrue]

No issue - but Keef got a lot of flack for not fighting Ugas and Boots. Then he got flack for the Tszyu fight which wasn't even a full jr. middleweight fight, it was Caneloweight (152). He's explaining the logic of why he accepted the deal vs. just fighting 147 guys. And he's saying that he wasn't sitting on the shelf, he was actively training for a fight.

Which is probably how he ended up injured (overtraining).

155 was the weight. That's why it wasn't for the title, because it was a normal middleweight fight with a 155CW

[rickJen]

Well, we've also got rumors that Tszyu's manager wants him to vacate his WBO belt if he wins to duck Bud and fight Spence instead. That's not a good sign for team Tszyu. But time will tell.

It's all up to Tszyu. And I don't believe this guy would duck anybody.
Seems his management team is making unilateral decision for him.
I would rather see him take Crawford next.

[crimsonfalcon07]

It's all up to Tszyu. And I don't believe this guy would duck anybody.
Seems his management team is making unilateral decision for him.
I would rather see him take Crawford next.

If he thinks he can beat Crawford, that's absolutely the fight to make to catapult him into superstar territory, beating the P4P #1/2. I'm pretty sure you're right that his team doesn't want it, but that he'll fight Crawford if he thinks he can win. If he does vacate, that IMO says everything necessary.