Talked to @KeithThurmanJr last night and said he will go to the UK and challenge @SpecialKBrook

— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) August 17, 2014

By Scott Gilfoid: Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya says that WBA interim welterweight champion Keith Thurman (23-0, 21 KOs) is willing to go over to the UK to challenge IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) for his new title if they’re open to taking the fight.

That’s obviously a big ‘if’ because before last night, Brook had fought 10 years of largely soft jobs and many of those fights came on his promoter Eddie Hearn’s watch. The predictable thing to expect to see is Brook and Hearn reverting to past form with Brook being put in with someone who is no threat to beating him for his next fight.

“Talked to Keith Thurman last night and he said he will go to the UK and challenge Special K Brook,” De La Hoya said on his twitter.

Thurman would take a fight with Brook in a second because he was at ringside last night and saw how he looked against Porter. Thurman said to Esnewsreporting that Brook got outworked by Porter. There are plenty of weaknesses for Thurman to exploit in a fight against Brook.

Hearn said he wants to start working on a big fight next year against a big name – Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez. He didn’t mention Thurman’s name among those guys. That could very well mean that Brook won’t face anyone good until he fights next year, and I don’t know that Hearn will be able to get any those fights.

I think Thurman would be too strong and too talented for Brook to deal with. I see a fight between these two guys ending badly for Brook, I really do.

Mayweather isn’t going to waste time fighting Brook, because it’s not a fight that will sell in the United States, and Mayweather isn’t going to the UK and put himself in the position of losing by a controversial decision.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum tends to match him up against in house fighters from his Top Rank stable, so you have to assume Arum won’t bother matching Pacquiao against a little known non-Top Rank fighter like Brook.

As for Khan, his adviser Al Haymon does the match-making for him, and he seems to be grooming Khan for a title shot against Mayweather. Haymon isn’t going to likely bother matching Khan against a fighter that doesn’t sell tickets or who isn’t a pay-per-view worthy fighter like Brook.