Spence: Thurman Not as Strong as Brook, He's Small - I'll Beat Him - Boxing News
IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence (22-0, 19 KOs) is eager to get his hands on WBC, WBA champion Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs).
Last weekend, Spence captured the IBF belt when he stopped Kell Brook before a hostile crowd of 27,000 fans at Bramall Lane in Sheffield.
Spence is now hoping to get Thurman in the ring to unify three of the four titles. But Thurman recently underwent elbow surgery and has to sit on the bench until the end of the year. The WBO belt is held by Manny Pacquiao, who defends his belt on July 1 against Jeff Horn in Brisbane.
Spence is confident in his ability to beat Thurman. Spence says he is taller, physically bigger, and just as strong and fast as Thurman.
"I know I can beat Keith Thurman. I feel physically he's not as strong as Kell Brook. I feel Keith Thurman is small, about 5'8, 5'7. I feel that we have the same speed. I feel that I'm in better shape than him. I feel that I'm just a better fighter. He does have power, but I have power too. I feel that everything is in my favor in that fight. I just feel like I'll beat him," Spence told Sway in The Morning.
Spence also has a reach advantage over Thurman and believes his jab will find the mark quite often. He studied Thurman's fight with Shawn Porter, from June 2016, and felt Porter - who is shorter - was able to stay on the outside and land his jab in the first four rounds.
"In the earlier rounds, Porter was wining the battle of the jabs. He was fighting good on the outside for the first four rounds but then he regressed and went back to his brawling style. He showed that the jab works. Shawn Porter is a shorter fighter than Keith Thurman and he was hitting him with the jab and the one-two from the outside," Spence said.
I hope he doesn't go into the fight thinking this
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He better worry about tightening up his D. At some point he's gonna get cracked with something huge. I wanna see how he takes it & if his demeanor changes