Former welterweight champion Shawn Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs) is getting tired of waiting for his mandatory shot against WBC/WBA beltholder Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs).
Porter, who lost a close decision to Thurman in 2016, became the WBC mandatory last year after knocking out Andre Berto in a final eliminator.
Thurman has been out of the ring since March 2017, when he won a split decision over Danny Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs) to unify the WBC, WBA world titles.
Thurman had surgery for an elbow injury in the aftermath of the Garcia bout, and then took off for the rest of the year.
He was scheduled to make a voluntary defense in May, against an opponent to be determined, and then withdrew with a claimed hand injury.
There is no information on when or where Thurman plans to return.
Thurman only fought once in 2016 and once in 2017, and he's heading in the direction of a single fight in 2018.
There have been rumblings from the WBC, regarding the possibility of having Porter fight Danny Garcia for the WBC interim-title.
Porter would rather have the title take away from Thurman, and then face Garcia for the vacant belt.
"That’s a completely fair assessment, I think it’s the right move to make. I’m not going to step on Mr. Sulaiman’s toes, I’m going to disrespect him or tell him what to do, but at the end of the day, I do think a fight between myself and Danny Garcia makes sense with or without a belt, but if you want to entertain the fact that the WBC title has been at bay for a while because Keith has been unable to fight," Porter told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"If you’re not giving Keith a mandatory time to defend his belt, then his belt needs to be vacated. After his belt is vacated I think there’s only two people who should be fighting for that title and that’s myself and Danny Garcia. I think that fight makes sense on paper and for the fans.
"I would love to get back in the ring this summer in June, July or August at the latest. It’s not going to be Keith Thurman, it’s gotta be another big fight. Hopefully Mauricio Sulaiman does the right thing and hopefully it’s for the WBC title."