Boxing may have a new star in Keith "One-Time" Thurman, a knockout artist hungry for top challengers and long on established names willing to risk facing him. Most of the rumors surrounding Thurman's next fight revolve around fellow undefeated champ Shawn Porter, fresh off a knockout of Paulie Malignaggi, but One-Time wasn't shy in discussing his desire for a Manny Pacquiao bout.
Canelo vs. Pacquiao a real possibility?
Following his win over Julio Diaz, Thurman made clear he was "ready for anybody" in the welterweight division, and a few days later Elie Seckbach of YouTube fame caught up with him and brought up Pacquiao.
"Dynamite baby," Thurman said when describing a potential bout with Manny. "Someone would get knocked out boy. It ain't gonna be no 12-round fight, I don't even expect any of my fights to be 12-round fights."
Could Thurman vs. Shawn Porter be next step in welterweight division?
Thurman is one of the more loquacious boxers in the game, and his big talk may grow his star power and make him someone up-and-coming welterweights are unable to avoid. His power is tremendous-his record stands at 23-0-0 with 21 knockouts. In the ring following his demolition of Diaz, a tough veteran, he called out his whole weight class.
"Everybody in the welterweight division is shooting for that Mayweather sweepstakes," Thurman said. "I'm here to entertain the world of boxing. I'm here to dominate the welterweight division."
A fight with Pacquiao would certainly garner a ton of interest, but that may be unlikely to happen. While rumors of Arum and Golden Boy negotiating a fight with Canelo Alvarez have been put out there, Thurman isn't yet the type of star who can end the sport's "Cold War."
Pacquiao's also rumored to be discussing a five-fight extension with Top Rank, meaning all hope is basically lost of that "dynamite" fight. "Yes, we are talking about the extension," Arum told ESPN.com.
"We are working it out. We are talking about a lot of things. How many fights would be in Macau, how many would be in the United States, how many in other places. But we are talking about five fights."
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