LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 19: WBA welterweight super champion Keith Thurman poses on the scale during his official weigh-in at MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thurman will meet WBA welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in a WBA welterweight title fight on July 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
World Boxing Cheats
Today the WBC, in their infinite wisdom, moved Keith Thurman into the number one spot in their Welterweight rankings! That’s great for Thurman but bad for boxing. Why would they do this? That’s easy to protect Errol Spence! Check out the best new sportsbooks for betting on boxing.
Is Spence/Crawford close to happening?
It sure looks that way as the two supposedly continue to negotiate, but especially in Boxing, looks can be deceiving! No reason exists to move Keith Thurman up to the number one spot; hell, no reason exists to have him in the top5! He has beaten zero ranked Welterweights in five years! He has fought twice in the last three years, and Manny Pacquiao beat his ass the last time he was in a significant fight.
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Thurman’s last win of note was over five years ago when he beat Danny Garcia via close to decision. So what the hell is going on here? The easy answer is that Boxing! Corruption runs wild, and it reminds me of the movie The Great White Hype, where they are looking for a marketable contender for the Heavyweight Championship against the dominant Black Champion. Of course, they needed a white guy, and none existed. So they found a man who had beaten the champion in the amateurs but had never turned pro. He needed to be ranked, so the Promoter made off an organization that looked a lot like the WBC. This is happening in real life, and unfortunately, it has happened too often.
Spence and Crawford is a fight that should have happened a few years ago, but of course, it didn’t, and now I bet it won’t happen by the end of this year. When the fight falls through because the protectors of Errol Spence don’t want it to happen, they can then fight the mandatory challenger, and that challenger is now Keith Thurman. Boots Ennis or Vergil Ortiz should be the number one and two contenders for Spence’s title, so the payoff occurred, and now Spence and his handlers can safely stay away from a dangerous fight.
Spence is moving on up.
My guess is that since Ennis is number one in the IBF rankings, the next cowardly move by Al Haymon and Spence is to give up the IBF belt and flee north to the 154-pound division where Spence can be safe. No intention on Haymon’s part has ever existed to make Spence/Crawford, and I guarantee you they want no part of Boots Ennis either, as Ennis and Crawford would kick Spence’s ass and today’s move proves that!
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