Keith Thurman opened up on regrets over his loss to Manny Pacquiao as the American welterweight plots a return to the sport’s summit.
Once a long-reigning champion at 147, that ended when Pacquiao took his gold in Las Vegas during the summer of 2019.
Thurman got dropped in the first round before surrendering his title. However, “One Time” doesn’t quite see the performance as a bad one.
The one thing he does regret, though, is not being able to land another colossal slot on a headlining Pay Per View after selling half a million alongside the Filipino legend.
“In my head, it was like, ‘Get through, Pac, do whatever you have to do or don’t do, whatever happens.’ And you want that next big pay-per-view fight, Thurman’s right here,” Thurman told World Boxing News at the Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugas fight.
“(Adviser) Al (Haymon) calls you and says, ‘Do you want to have this big pay-per-view fight?’
“But I love this sport. I always said it – I got an ‘0,’ and I’m not afraid to let it go. If you can beat me, beat me.
“I didn’t feel like Manny Pacquiao beat me, but he ended up defeating me. He gave me my first ‘L.’ It is what it is.
“Whoever they put in the ring, they’re going to get the wrath of me taking the L. Real talk. You can say what you want about Thurman — he’s weak here, he’s weak there. Cool. Show me.”
POST MANNY PACQUIAO
On a potential clash with the man Pacquiao was due to meet, Errol Spence Jr., Thurman added: “Show me you don’t care anymore.
“He’s the ‘Truth.’ We all want to test the truth. I want to seek the truth.”
Thurman gets linked with everyone from the up-and-coming boxers to the seasoned names like Gervonta Davis, Adrien Broner, and Mike Garcia but is without a fight in over two years.
So far, nothing has transpired for the Florida man, who still carries a solid name in the welterweight ranks.
Something has to be in the pipeline soon if he wants it to remain that way.
