Keith Thurman returned to the ring with a bang last month, when he made light work of the overmatched Brock Jarvis in Australia. 

The 36-year-old former two-time champion may be headed back Down Under soon, but will be watching to see what happens between Tim Tszyu and Joey Spencer this weekend before making his move. Still, there is clearly interest from promoters in “One Time” making the return journey from Florida.

His next step, however, is not definitely Tszyu.

“Yeah, No Limit, they are very happy to work with me and they would love for the Thurman-Tim Tszyu fight to happen in Australia,” Thurman told BoxingScene. “And they’re very eager to promote that event. Obviously, he has to get past Joey Spencer this coming weekend. And that’s what they have in the forecast for Tim Tszyu and for Australia fight fans. 

“They really enjoyed having me out there. Obviously, their fighters don’t know how to sell a fight like a Thurman fight, and it was a lot of fun. I know a lot of people didn’t really show a lot of interest in the Thurman-Brock Jarvis fight, and I understand. But once I touched the ground out there and I started doing all the promo reels, all of a sudden, people remember, ‘I do like Thurman. You know what, I love the way he talks that smack.’ It’s just my personality. I just slowly started reminding people what I bring to boxing. I talk the talk, I walk the walk, the performance… There was a lot of great fights that night. There was a lot of great knockouts that night. Still, nobody gets to steal my night. I made it about my comeback. And I came back hungry. I came back strong. And it just was an exciting night of boxing. And at the end of the day, it was the Thurman show. And I think a lot of people forgot what the Thurman show looks like. And Australia has never gotten a piece of the Thurman show. So they were flabbergasted. They didn’t even know what’s happening. Is this guy for real? Is this guy trying to sell a fight? I don’t know. Is he actually any good? He’s 36 years old. We don’t know what we’re going to get out of him. They loved everything I was promoting, but still, everyone had that question mark. And then the bell rings, and then I let my hands go.”

Thurman was just pleased to get back out there. The junior middleweight division is one of the best in boxing, and he believes he is one of the major players. 

No Limit Boxing promoter George Rose said that if Thurman won against Jarvis, which he did in three rounds, the Tszyu fight would be next. Obviously Tszyu has to win first, but it is not a fight Thurman wants above all others. He wants it for the right deal, he wants it if it’s the best option, and he mostly wants it just because he wants activity.

Asked whether he specifically wanted Tszyu, Thurman made his thoughts abundantly clear.

“I’m getting tired of this question. I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at the question,” he said. “So they keep asking me, ‘Is Tim Tszyu the fight that I want?’ I don’t want a fighter. I want fights and I want to get paid. Three years of inactivity… You don’t know the life of a boxer. I don’t fight, I don’t get paid. There’s a few side gig things that I can do, commentating, this and that. Those checks are nowhere near what a fight money brings in for me, my family and my career. In 2024, I had to walk away from a big money fight in Vegas against Tim Tszyu. Now they want to bring Tim Tszyu to the table. And guess what? It’s not the Vegas money on the table no more. It’s the same fight. There’s no world title. There’s less money. But there’s enough money to go ahead and make the fight happen. And if I don’t fight early in the summer, when am I going to fight again? Who am I going to fight? Where’s my next contract? I don’t care about who I’m going to fight. I can fight exhibitions in Tokyo for all I care. I don’t care who I fight next. I care that I do fight next. The problem with the boxing fans and the Thurman fans and the once upon a time fans, at the end of the day, it’s my inactivity that has left a bitter taste in a lot of people’s mouths. So Keith Thurman isn’t really looking at this guy or that guy. I know how the sport is. It’s hard to get people in the ring that you want to fight.

“I want to be in the ring. I want to be active. I want to fight decent fights. And from going from Brock Jarvis to Tim Tszyu and then whoever’s next, I think it’s a solid progression. And I can’t argue with that. And I’m happy to pick up the check.”

Tszyu and Thurman were due to meet in Las Vegas last March, but the American had to withdraw after suffering a bicep injury. Tszyu was subsequently upset in a bloodbath with Thurman’s replacement, Sebastian Fundora.

And with Tszyu losing his title, and then losing again to Bakhram Murtazaliev, Thurman has seen the value of the fight drop.

“And to my knowledge, because Tszyu’s not champion, what I heard was the proposal for the Tszyu fight would be proposed at a 10-round level because he’s not champion,” Thurman continued. “So it already went down from fighting him last year at a 12-round championship level to, if we step in the ring this year, less money on the table, but technically potentially less rounds. If it’s a 10-round fight, it’s just going to throw me up higher in the ranks, and it will not be a title eliminator, which means my third fight of the year, I should be ranked high enough [for a title].”

Regardless, Thurman is eager to make up for lost time and he is ready to push on from where he left off against Jarvis.

“It was a very fun business trip,” Thurman said of his time in Australia. “It was beautiful to showcase my skills and get the love from the fight people and the fight fans of Australia. And the contract seems like something they want to send my way, and I’ll be happy to receive it. It’s not like I’ve seen another contract on the table yet. And I want to stay busy. I think they want Tszyu to come back strong and keep him busy, try to recover this year. And we’ll see. We’ll see what happens. 

“So you got a check for me? You got somebody to punch in the face and you got to check for me. Send it over, man. You got a number for my peoples. Let my peoples get with your peoples. You give me my next check. That’s the mindset Keith Thurman’s in right now.” 

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.