It wasn’t an entire shock to Eimantas Stanionis when the information formally broke. After hoping and praying {that a} showdown between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford would lastly come to fruition, Stanionis incredulously rolled his eyes as reviews surfaced of Spence shifting as much as 154 kilos to tackle Keith Thurman.
Spence, the present WBA, IBF, and WBC welterweight champion, has longed for an undisputed matchup in opposition to Crawford. Initially, the 2 seemed to be on a collision course on the tail finish of 2022 earlier than talks stalled, forcing each side to go in reverse instructions.
Now, with the 32-year-old gearing up for his showdown in opposition to Thurman, Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) shakes his head in disgust. Along with sternly believing that the previous unified champion has achieved little to earn a shot at Spence, Stanionis has a robust hunch that Thurman’s protracted stints on the sidelines will result in a cataclysmic finish consequence.
“I believe Spence goes to beat him down,” stated Stanionis to BoxingScene.com. “This inactivity performs a job and the age. He was very inactive.”
At one level, Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) proudly held each the WBA and WBC welterweight championships. Nevertheless, after snagging back-to-back victories in opposition to Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia in 2016 and 2017 respectively, Thurman has been hit with the harm bug.
For practically two years, the Clearwater, Florida native nursed a bothersome hand and elbow harm. As soon as he made his return in 2019, he might have eked out a victory over Josesito Lopez however the now 34-year-old was given the primary defeat of his profession by the hands of Manny Pacquiao.
Very similar to in years previous, Thurman as soon as once more discovered himself sequestered on the sidelines. With one more lengthy hiatus, Thurman returned to the ring in February of 2022, registering a lopsided victory in opposition to Mario Barrios.
Spence, equally, has additionally spent much more time than he would really like watching from the bench. Most lately, nonetheless, the highly effective southpaw unified three of the 4 main world titles following his win over Yordenis Ugas.
Contemplating Spence’s innate imply streak, Stanionis doesn’t envision Thurman reaching the ultimate bell.
“I see the stoppage like late.”