Errol Spence Jr. and Chris Algieri earlier this month. Photo: Courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions.

Errol Spence Jr. turned a lot of heads with his five-round destruction of Chris Algieri on April 16. Spence continued to raise eyebrows at the post-fight press conference when he called out Keith Thurman for having a thin resume, saying the only notable win he has is against Robert Guerrero.

Thurman responded to Spence’s criticisim on Tuesday following a press conference to hype his WBA welterweight title fight with Shawn Porter on June 25 at Barclays Center on CBS. Thurman defended his resume while slamming the merits of Spence’s last fight by calling Algieri a “chump.”

During a nearly 20-minute interview with reporters, Thurman also took the time to crush WBC welterweight titleholder Danny Garcia, claiming that “at least five welterweights” can beat him, such as himself and Porter, and saying (with some sarcasm) no one except Garcia’s dad knows if Garcia would ever face him. Garcia, whose last fight was against Guerrero in January, is often mentioned as a candidate to face the winner of Thurman-Porter .

But Thurman seemed to be at his most animated when discussing Spence. Thurman said there were more pressing opponents for him to face at the moment such as Garcia, WBO titleholder Jessie Vargas and IBF champ Kell Brook, though he did admit a fight with Spence was an attractive option — down the road.

“His comment was something of the nature – I hate responding on some of these – why has Keith Thurman been at the top of the game but has only fought one Top 10 fighter?” Thurman said. “Is that because of Keith Thurman? Are those the fights that Keith Thurman wanted for himself? The answer is no. For the past several years as soon as I got on the scene – I let the whole world know when I told Paulie Malignaggi (several years ago at Barclays Center) you better not duck me son. And yes I was talking to him but I was also talking to every welterweight. I was hungry for everybody.”

Thurman said he didn’t begrudge Spence for calling him out, since he was once the young gun eyeing the older, more established fighters in the sport. “Am I mad at Errol Spence for being in my shoes and my situation where I was three years ago?” Thurman said. “Knowing you have the skills and the ability to be the champion of the world? Feel like you can take on everybody and so what do you want to do? You want to call out the dude at the top. Who am I? But the man at the top.”

Thurman once looked up to the recently retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. While he talked of one day facing Mayweather, Mayweather never really allowed that Thurman might be a future opponent, basically snubbing him, Thurman says. But Thurman said he won’t do that to Spence.

“For me, the man at the top was Floyd. What did Floyd do? Not acknowledge me,” Thurman said. “Am I going to treat Errol like that? No, I’m not going to treat Errol like that. I’m going to acknowledge the boy. You have the right to say what you want to do. You put on a great performance. I don’t care that Chris Algieri is a chump. It’s about making the chumps look like a chump. He showcased his talent and his skills on that night and he looked great doing it. Did he fight the best in the world? No, he didn’t.”

Thurman said that Spence is an option at some point. But there are higher profile boxers who stand in his way at the moment. “We got tons of fighters in the welterweight division,” Thurman said. “And we have people who have what I call ‘Spotlight Priority’ over Spence. There’s people on my list that’s higher than him. But the real thing about Errol Spence is — I think it’s a fight that can happen. I don’t think it’s a fight that will happen this year. I do think it’s a fight that is worth not ducking. Not dodging. But building. If you declare that it is not, then obviously you don’t know boxing.”