Keith Thurman remembers what it was like when he was a rising force within the welterweight division but couldn’t for the life of him get the top fighters to face him. (photo by Ryan Hafey)

Now, at age 33, Thurman knows what it feels like to be on the other side of the equation.

The Clearwater, Florida native and former 147-pound titleholder was recently asked if he has any interest in fighting Philadelphia’s undefeated Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, who currently occupies a position in the sport not dissimilar to that of Thurman back when he was still nipping at the heels of the likes of titleholders Paulie Malignaggi and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Thurman says he is all for fighting the dangerous 24-year-old Ennis, but with one caveat: not until he accomplishes his first order of business of collecting world titles.

“Thurman wants belts, Thurman wants the champions,” Thurman told Brian Custer on The Last Stand podcast. “Boots just happens to be that generation behind [my] generation.

“These guys are going to fight it out, and Boots is going to be right at the edge, right at the cusp, similar to the position I was in when I fought Diego Chavez and I was the number one contender for the WBA world title. Who had the world title? Paulie Malignaggi? What happened to him? He got beat by Adrien Broner. What happened to Adrien Broner? He got beat by Marcos Maidana.

“Ok. Can I fight Maidana? No! Why? Because Maidana fights Floyd Mayweather. OK, even better. Now Thurman’s the mandatory for Floyd Mayweather. Oh, wait! Few months go by, Floyd’s elevated to ‘Super Champ,’ they take me from an interim to a regular champion, and I learn pretty much overnight you’re not going to touch Floyd Mayweather.”

Thurman’s comments represent an about-face from remarks made earlier this summer, when he said he had “never heard of” Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs).

That's clearly no longer the case.

Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) is looking to break out of a more than two-and-a-half year absence from the sport when he takes on Mario Barrios on Feb. 5 at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The 33-year-old Thurman has not fought since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2019. He has said that he hopes to fight one of the welterweight champions – Errol Spence Jr. (WBC/IBF), Yordenis Ugas (WBA), Terence Crawford (WBO) – this summer.

Upon beating one of the titlists, theoretically, Thurman says he would then be all game to take on Ennis.

“I have no intention of doing that (ducking a fight) to Boots Ennis,” Thurman said. “All the intention that I have is to fight the champions that are in my sight. From there I’ll hold onto the belts and if the young man is still there, still undefeated, wanting to fight, then it’s a possible fight in the future. And I look forward to it.

Added Thurman, “He’s a great fighter. He looks tremendous. I love his style. Beautiful boxing style.”