By Scott Gilfoid: With Amir Khan showing no interest whatsoever in getting in the ring with IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs), we could see Brook as a possible opponent for WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) for September of 2015.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport said that he’s spoken to Mayweather’s adviser Al Haymon about a fight between Brook and Mayweather for September of next year.
Hearn feels that it’s a little too soon to match Brook up against Mayweather right now because Brook still isn’t well known yet in the U.S. But he feels that by September it will be a good time to make that fight.
“I spoke to Al Haymon about Kell for Mayweather,” Hearn said to IFL TV. “He’s [Brook] undefeated, he’s a world champion. I just think it’s too early for him [Brook] in terms of profile. He’s not that well known enough in America. We’re talking more about that fight taking place in September between Brook and Mayweather. That’s more realistic.”
Brook will likely defend his title against his International Boxing Federation mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan in March of 2015. Hearn says that a Brook vs. Dan fight is a possibility for that time, or possibly someone else. If Hearn wants to build up Brook’s name for a Mayweather fight late next year, it’s going to take a much better known and more talented fighter than Jo Jo Dan if he wants to accomplish that.
If a fight between Brook and Dan is piped into the United States, it’s not likely to create a lot of fuss, given that the casual boxing fans won’t have a clue who either of these two fighters are. I’m talking casual fans, not hardcore fans. The Brook-Dan fight would likely be dismissed by the casual fans much like they do the bottom of fight cards involving obscure fighters.
Brook could literally face Dan 100 times, and he’d likely be no better known than he is right now in the U.S. I mean, the only way Brook is going to get better known is if he fights someone like Robert Guerrero, Keith Thurman, Marcos Maidana or Brandon Rios.
Obviously, Brook isn’t going to face a dangerous guy like Maidana, because it would be too risky of a fight for Brook. The same goes for Thurman. Hearn isn’t going to match Brook up with Thurman because he’d likely get out-boxed or knocked out.
Hearn might as well match Brook up with Mayweather now if he can get that fight, because he’s not going to be better known by September if he faces Jo Jo Dan. Hearn previously mentioned Andre Berto as a potential opponent for Brook to defend his title against. That’s not going to work either because Berto isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies, and a win over him isn’t going to raise Brook’s profile any. It’s just going to make him look like he’s picking fighters from yesterday instead of relevant fighters that are top contenders today. In other words, it’s too late to be matching Brook against Berto. That should have took place back in 2011 when Berto was still a major player.
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