Keith Thurman: “Mayweather vs. Thurman would be an entertaining fight, it would be way better than the Manny Pacquiao fight!”

Keith “One Time” Thurman is still looking for that defining fight of his career that brings him closer to superstardom. Thurman, 26, fought Robert Guerrero in March and then faced Luis Collazo in July, winning both in impressive fashion, but still finding difficulty securing big name opponents in the aftermath.

In part 1 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Keith Thurman I discuss with him his fight against Luis Collazo, and how he felt about his performance. Keith also talks about his future and if he thinks a fight with Amir Khan can happen. Additionally, Thurman gives his thoughts on Floyd Mayweather continuing his career and if he thinks he still might have a chance to fight Mayweather. Here is what Keith Thurman had to say.

Jenna J: You had an impressive victory over Luis Collazo, you won by seventh round stoppage. What were your thoughts on your performance?

Keith Thurman: I don’t know how to grade my performance. I took it round by round, I feel like I just boxed smart throughout the whole fight. He was able to catch me real nice in the fifth round, but after recovering from that, we just we back to boxing smart, boxing hard, and I started to open up some by the end of the sixth. I was able to do quite a bit of damage on him in the seventh round and then the fight was over, and that was that.

Jenna J: He hurt you in the fifth round with a body shot but you managed to stay up. What were you thinking in that moment? What kept you up?

Keith Thurman: Two things: One, I just didn’t want to give him the credit of the knockdown, and two, even if I was to take a knee, I still would have had to stand back up. When I took that body shot, it kind of made me fold over and in that moment of folding over and having to endure the pain, I thought to myself, “You can take a knee but even if you take a knee you have to stand back up.”

In that moment I realized that I might as well stand up, my legs were strong enough and I went into survival mode. I knew that he would know that he hurt me with the blow and that it was obvious why I got on my bicycle, so I was just gonna have to maintain my defense and just withhold the storm.

I could have taken the knee, I could have just made him back off, got some time, take the point and still have a great performance and win the fight. We’ve watched many fighters come back from a knockdown — Timothy Bradley has been from several knockdowns before. Those were my thoughts around that time in the fight.

Jenna J: Were you disappointed that he resigned in the corner and you didn’t get to put the hurting on him for hurting you earlier in the fight?

Keith Thurman: Yeah that’s pretty much what it is. I would have enjoyed him coming out in the eight round to deal more damage, due to that smirk that he had on his face after the firth round, the confidence that he had. He knew I recovered, I was only getting stronger in the fight, I was landing my punches easier in the seventh round. I was really looking forward to the eighth round but his team backed away.

Jenna J: What do you think is next for you? You have now won a title and defended it, what do you see next?

Keith Thurman: We talk a lot about what’s next, but at the end of the day, I don’t know anything until it really starts being negotiated. Right now we’re not in negotiations about anything. I’m looking forward to starting negotiations, I’m willing to make a lot of great fights happen, so we’ll see what comes my way. I’m looking forward to stepping back in the ring at least one more time this year and hopefully it will be a great fight and an entertaining fight. I’m looking forward to a nice challenge for myself and my career.

Jenna J: Some people have mentioned the name of Amir Khan. He’s looking for an opponent to face, do you think that fight could happen?

Keith Thurman: That’s one of the fights that I’m looking forward to. That’s one of the fights that I would love to make happen. A lot of people are saying that that he should be available, and everybody knows that I’m available. We’ll see what happens, but I’m looking forward to it, I want Amir Khan.

I’m willing to talk about fighting Shawn Porter. There’s several welterweights. I don’t know if Danny Garcia wants to step in the ring this year again or if he’s done or what he’s looking forward to. To me, there’s a lot to negotiate but like I said, we haven’t started negotiations yet on the next bout, but I’m looking forward to whatever comes and I’m hoping it’s going to be something big for the fans and my career.

Jenna J: I want to get your thoughts on Floyd Mayweather announcing that he will be fighting Andre Berto next on September 12th. Most people think he’s going to fight beyond this match, does that give you more hope in the future that he may want to fight you?

Keith Thurman: I’ll always be in the running until the day he retires, that’s the way I see it. I feel that I deserve my position in the welterweight division and I’m gonna hold it down. I’m gonna represent each time I step into the ring. The longer he’s in the game, the better opportunity I have of fighting Floyd Mayweather. I look forward to that, I want that opportunity.

Floyd is one of the best fighters we have in the world today in the sport of boxing and I just want to be able to showcase my skills and my talent to the best fighters in the world, for the fans. I already know the type of fighter that I am and it would be an entertaining fight, it would be way better than the Pacquiao fight, it would be better than the Cotto fight too.