Exclusive: Jessie Vargas On Failed Keith Thurman Fight: “He Didn’t Want To Fight Me”
Former welterweight world champion Jessie Vargas did not mince words when it came to unified champion Keith Thurman, saying Thurman did not want to fight him.
After Vargas defeated Aaron Herrera last year in his first fight since losing the WBO welterweight title, talks of a fight between Thurman and Vargas emerged. Vargas spoke to Fightful on those two separate times a fight between Thurman and Vargas were briefly negotiated before Thurman elected not to pursue that fight further. Instead of fighting for the WBA and WBC titles in Thurman’s return fight in May, Vargas will be fighting four-division champion Adrien Broner on April 21 at the Barclays Center.
“[Thurman] chose not to take the fight against me. He said it clearly and even with my long layoff, I was willing to fight Keith Thurman coming off that long layoff. But he wasn’t ready because he had the injury and wanted more time off. That’s when I took the fight in December against Herrera. After the fight, I assumed we would get into negotiations and he still refused to fight me, so I got to give credit to Broner. Adrien Broner took on a fight, took on a challenge that not even Keith Thurman was willing to take,” Vargas said.
Should Vargas emerge victorious against Broner, he’ll be one of the top welterweight contenders in the world deserving of a world title opportunity. It remains to be seen whether or not Thurman would be interested in fighting Vargas down the road, but Thurman isn’t the only world champion in boxing’s loaded 147-pound division.
Errol Spence Jr., who holds the IBF welterweight title, is another titleholder Vargas would be interested in fighting. Vargas is currently ranked in the top 5 in the IBF welterweight rankings and would welcome a fight against Spence and any other top contender in the division.
“Definitely [a fight against Spence interests me]. I want to fight against anyone. I’ve shown in the past that I’m willing to fight anybody in the division especially if they hold a title. A fight against Spence, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, it doesn’t matter who it is against. I’m ready for anybody. Of course, I’m not looking ahead of my next challenge, my next opponent, who is Adrien Broner. We’re staying concentrated on him and once I come out victorious, then we’ll plan ahead and see what’s next. But definitely yeah those are fights that could be made against Spence, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, against anybody that the fans pay attention and want to see,” Vargas said.
There is another champion that Vargas could potentially engage down the road if he is interested: WBO junior middleweight champion Sadam Ali. Vargas and Ali have some history in the ring together, with Vargas knocking out Ali to win the then-vacant WBO welterweight title in March 2016. Of course, Vargas and Ali are currently busy with separate fights in the coming weeks, but if Ali were to issue a challenge to Vargas, Vargas would happily accept that rematch even if it means moving up in weight.
“The thing is that when it comes to rematches, the person that is supposed to ask for the fight is the guy that lost the first fight. I can’t call him out since I beat him. If he wants the rematch, I will gladly give it to him. That would not be a problem on my end, but that’s all up to him. If the fans want to see it, why not? The fight should be made, but we don’t know how he and his team feels. I applaud him for coming out victorious against Miguel Cotto. It was a good fight. I said it before, if you’re able to outbox Cotto and maintain that stamina, it would be possible. I know his style and I know Cotto’s style but he came out victorious and if he ever wants to do it again, he can make a phone call and we’ll do it again,” Vargas said.
But at the moment, Vargas said his focus is on Adrien Broner on April 21 and will seriously think about those types of fights after he wins his fight against Broner. The fight will main event the Showtime Championship Boxing telecast that night. The Barclays Center event will include two title fights: Gervonta Davis vs. Jesus Cuellar for the WBA super featherweight title and Jermall Charlo vs. Hugo Centeno Jr. for the interim WBC middleweight title. Fightful will have live coverage of the event from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
