Keith “One Time” Thurman is the reigning Interim WBA welterweight champion and a fighter that is looking to move up the pound for pound ranks. Thurman, now 26 years old is set to return July 11th on ESPN in another edition of Premier boxing champions against Luis Collazo, and hopes to make a statement that puts him in the running for the Mayweather sweepstakes.

In part 1 of my interview with Keith Thurman I talk with him about his upcoming challenge against Collazo and why this was the opponent chosen. Thurman also talks about the risk/reward factor with this fight and what a loss would do to his career. Additionally Keith shares his thoughts on Amir Khan’s latest fight, and if he deserves a Floyd Mayweather fight after it. Here is what Keith Thurman had to say.

Robert Brown: You got a title defense coming up against Luis Collazo. How do you feel about the fight?

Keith Thurman: I feel good about this fight. I was really happy with my last performance, I was real happy to face Robert Guerrero, he’s one of the fighters that I’ve been looking forward to fighting for a long time. This fight on July 11th on ESPN, it’s just beautiful, it’s another opportunity for me to showcase my skills and my talent to the world and I get to do it in my home town. My whole family is truly excited about this fight coming up.

Collazo has a lot of experience, he’s been in with world champions, he’s faced a lot of tough guys and he’s talked about fighting me on several occasions, so I know he’s going to bring his A game. I’m looking forward to the fight.

Robert Brown: Why Luis Collazo? He’s a good fighter and he’s a game guy, but every time he’s fought anybody from the A level or the B+ level, he’s lost. Why Collazo?

Keith Thurman: There’s several reasons why Luis Collazo. The first reason is, he was an opponent that was willing to sign the contract to fight me on July 11th. I’m trying to stay active right now, it’s very important that I stay active for myself and my career at this point, that’s how me and my team feel.

Currently in the welterweight division, there was just not a whole lot of matches that could be made. A lot of other matches got made early this summer, I’m just taking what was giving to me. I respect Luis Collazo, I know a lot of things about him. Even though he’s lost to a lot of the A class fighters, he’s never been stopped, he’s a worthy challenger. He’s not gonna lay down for nobody and it should be a good fight.

The fighter in me would like to entertain the fans a little bit more. I know some people may not be too thrilled about the show, but it takes time to get what you want in the world of boxing. Every fight is not the super mega fight.

Me and my team are trying to stay busy. I may compete three to four times this year. We know I’m gonna compete three times, the question is, am I going to compete four times? It all depends on what we get after this. My main focus is July 11th, Luis Collazo, right here in Tampa Bay, on ESPN. It’s beautiful.

Robert Brown: This is a dangerous fight isn’t it? If you don’t have your eye on the prize and you don’t look impressive against Collazo, or if you lose to him, your career will be on the backburner won’t it?

Keith Thurman: I’m young, I don’t know how much of the backburner. Adrien Broner lost to a more respectable opponent at the time in his career but at the end of the day, I believe I would keep fighting.

The fire and the intensity that is being brought behind the name, “Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman” right now — due to my 25-0 record and my 21 knockouts and my beautiful performances for the past several years — a lot of that would die out. “Keith ‘No Time’ Thurman”, you would just start hearing all sorts of names, like they always do.

I got a lot to lose in this fight but I have a lot to gain as far as more exposure and I have another opportunity to kick off PBC on ESPN this time, over my last fight, which was the kickoff for PBC and NBC. I’m really looking forward to boxing this year, I really like what’s happening to boxing right now, the shift that’s going on in the world of boxing and I’m just happy to be back in the ring.

Robert Brown: If you look impressive against Collazo on ESPN and stop him, considering Amir Khan’s underwhelming performance against Chris Algieri recently, would you be in line for the Mayweather shot?

Keith Thurman: We’re definitely in line for the Mayweather shot. We’ve been in line for the Mayweather shot for a minute but it doesn’t matter who I fight in the welterweight division. I would love Floyd Mayweather, he’s the man. Until the man retires, he’s the man. I want to be a legend and the best way to become a legend is by taking out a legend, and that would be Floyd Mayweather.