By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Keith Thurman didn’t come close to convincing Shawn Porter that’ll they fight next.

Porter questioned why Thurman wasn’t more definitive regarding their rematch when asked whether he is confident it’ll happen next during a press conference following his ninth-round technical knockout of Andre Berto on Saturday night at Barclays Center. The former IBF welterweight champion’s victory over Berto made Porter the mandatory challenger for the WBC welterweight title Thurman won from Danny Garcia on March 4 at Barclays Center.

Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) also is due to make a mandatory defense of his WBA “super” world welterweight championship against Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KO), who owns a version of the WBA’s 147-pound title. The Clearwater, Florida, native could opt for that bout before battling Porter again.

“I don’t know,” Porter said. “Honestly, I feel, and I could be wrong – I’m not in his position. But I feel like if it was me in the ring, and [Showtime’s Jim] Gray asked that question, I would simply say, ‘Yes. I know what the people want and I know what’s gonna make me great.’

“The people wanna see me fight Keith Thurman. And I wish that he had simply said, ‘Yes, I wanna fight Shawn Porter next.’ I understand that he has other obligations, but right now we’re just gonna move forward, doing what we do. I’m gonna allow my dad to do what he always does. And we’ll stay blessed, we’ll stay ready and hopefully that WBC title is next.”

Porter (27-2-1, 17 KOs), of Akron, Ohio, referred to Thurman’s interview in the ring after Porter beat Berto (31-5, 24 KOs). Gray asked Thurman if he would fight Porter next.

“He is my mandatory,” Thurman said. “His team, you know, they were adamant about getting the rematch. And now they’ve fought themselves into position for the rematch. They truly deserve it. It’s nothing but sitting down, talking to Al Haymon and making the fight happen.”

Gray followed up by asking Thurman if he would encourage Haymon to schedule a Porter rematch as his next fight.

“I’m still not thinking about anything right now, per se,” Thurman said. “But outside of that, this was a great fight. This was a great matchup. We had a ‘Fight of the Year’ last year. We [could] have a ‘Fight of the Year’ later on this year. He’s hungry. You see the way he fights. It’s gonna be a great fight.”

Beyond Porter and Peterson, Thurman has said several times recently that he would like to face Manny Pacquiao in a welterweight title unification fight in November. Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, has indicated Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) will return to the ring in November if the WBO 147-pound champion defeats Australia’s Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs) on July 2 in Melbourne.

Thurman topped Porter by unanimous decision in a very competitive, action-packed, 12-round fight June 25 at Barclays Center.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.