Hearn: Kell Brook likely to fight in October, Thurman a possibility

By Boxing News - 07/14/2015 - Comments

hearn44By Scott Gilfoid: Well, it looks like the fight between IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook and former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios isn’t going to happen. The negotiations aren’t progressing, and Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s going to have him fight in October instead of September 12th now.

One possibility for Brook is WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman, who recently beat Luis Collazo last Saturday night in an unimpressive performance. Brook apparently is now excited about fighting Thurman. Brook contacted Hearn last Saturday night to have him put a unification fight together between him and Thurman.

No doubt Brook saw how awful Thurman looked against Collazo, and sees a ton of weakness he can exploit.

As far as the Brook-Rios fight, it’s a doable fight, but Brook wants a rematch clause in the contract, and it appears that Rios doesn’t fancy that. If Rios wins the Brook fight, he can make big bank by taking Brook’s IBF title and facing Manny Pacquiao in a rematch that would likely make Rios far more money than he’d get in a second fight against Brook.

“Kell’s been rushed back into camp after the Frankie Gavin fight and the Rios fight is stalling,” Hearn said via IFL TV. “It’s stalling over a number of reasons, and I don’t think they fancy the fight. I think they know how good Kell Brook is.”

I don’t think Rios is worried about losing. I think he’s more worried about getting stuck in a rematch with Brook after he beats him, and then missing out on a big money fight against Pacquiao, who is nearing the end of his career. If Rios wins the IBF title off of Brook, he would need to face Pacquiao almost immediately to have to have a chance of fighting him. If Rios has to fight a rematch against Brook, we could see Pacquiao beaten again by someone else, and then subsequently retiring from the sport. Rios would then lose out on his big chance of getting a second fight against Pacquiao, and he’d all that sweet, clean cash.
“It’s the whole thing of convincing a fighter to travel abroad but I think it’s likely now that Kell will box in October, rather than Sep 12th, and if that’s the case we’ll headline with Anthony Joshua (v Dillian Whyte) on September 12th,” Hearn said.

Joshua-Whyte will headline the September 12th pay-per-view card on Sky? Oh man, I hope they have some other decent fights because I don’t see this as being nearly a big enough fight for it to be pay-per-view. I mean, if Joshua was fighting WBC heavyweight talent Deontay Wilder, then, yeah, I could see it being a PPV card. But, no way do I see Joshua-Whyte as being PPV, and I don’t care who Hearn puts on the undercard, I don’t see it as being PPV worthy.

“After the Thurman fight, he [Brook] rang me and said ‘let’s get Thurman.’ And I know Thurman won’t travel but if we have to travel for that fight, that’s a fight Kell Brook will take and a fight Kell Brook will win. I really rate Keith Thurman, not taking anything away from him – I just think Kell Brook’s a better fighter.”

I agree that Thurman likely won’t take the fight with Brook if it means traveling to the UK. Even if Thurman did say yes to the Brook fight, I don’t think Thurman’s adviser Al Haymon would agree to having Thurman travel to fight in the UK. I don’t see it happening, not for a fight against Brook.

If there was a Mayweather type British fighter in the UK who brought in big bank, then I think Haymon would say yes to the fight, but Brook isn’t Mayweather and he wouldn’t bring in enough money to lure Thurman over to the UK. If Hearn is willing to have Brook travel, then I think he would have a good chance of beating Thurman, because this guy looks very, very vulnerable right now after his win over Collazo. Brook might be able to beat Thurman just by chasing him around the ring all night long. The judges will likely give Brook rounds on sheer aggression based on the fact that he’d be pushing the fight, while Thurman was running. But I have my doubts whether Hearn will let Brook travel to take the Thurman fight, even though it’s a winnable one for Brook.



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