By Scott Gilfoid: Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants him to bypass his IBF ordered fight against mandatory challenger Errol Spence Jr. and instead take the fight against Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) next on May 20 or May 27th. Hearn says that Khan and Brook should forget about taking a warm-up fight in between their big money match-up.
Hearn feels that it’s not a smart move for either of them to wait on the fight until later in the year, especially for Brook (36-1, 25 KOs). If Brook stays at 147, it would mean that he would need to defend his IBF welterweight title against the talented Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs), and Hearn sees that as a really hard fight for him.
Hearn says it would be hard because Brook has a difficult time making the 147lb weight class now, and he thinks he would be weight drained if he took the fight. However, Spence also boils down from the 170s to make 147. The only difference is Spence doesn’t bellyache about his struggles to make weight.
It’s not part of Spence’s nature to complain about the difficulties he has to get down to the welterweight limit. He does without groaning and making a big production. What’s pretty obvious is that Hearn doesn’t want Brook to take the fight against Spence. He says he should move up to 154 and go after a title in that weight class instead.
The only guy that Hearn wants Brook to fight at 147 is Amir Khan. Hearn notes that Brook may need to give up his International Boxing Federation welterweight title if he takes the Khan fight next, but he’s willing to do that. Hearn sounds like he’s not sure whether Brook would lose his IBF title if he maneuvered around Spence, but he’s still willing to have him make that move. The IBF ordered the Brook vs. Spence fight next, so it would need Hearn to smooth things over with that sanctioning body for him to avoid the fight right now.
Hearn says there’s a possibility of a fight between Brook and Manny Pacquiao later in 2017, but it would need to take place in the UK. Hearn spoke with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, who wants the fight to take place in the UK, as long as Hearn can come up with the money to make the fight happen. Pacquiao is currently scheduled to fight Jeff Horn next on April 22. That fight could take place in Australia. Arum is interested in having Pacquiao fight guys in different countries as long as they can come up with the money to fight in those areas.
Hearn said this to IFL TV about Khan, Brook and Spence:
“I think Kell should move to 154 pounds,” said Hearn. “If you’re a better fighter at 154 pounds, why deplete yourself to make 147 pounds? Amir Khan will only fight Kell at 147 pounds. It’s very smart because he knows that’s his only chance. Do we fight Errol Spence at 147 pounds? It’s a very tough fight. Kell has got to boil himself to make the weight or can we maneuver a world title shot at 154 pounds? Can we fight [Manny] Pacquiao? These are all things to consider. When I had a meeting with Kell, he said, ‘I don’t want to vacate my title.’ But you’re going to fight and better [at 154]. It’s so hard for you. ‘Yes, but I’m not going to vacate.’ Go into the fight, struggle in the fight because you can’t make the weight or as good as you can make it at 154, and then lose to someone like Errol Spence maybe at that weight. His next move is really, really important. We had another meeting on Wednesday. There’s a lot of money on the table. Amir Khan is probably going to have to take a deal he doesn’t like, and Kell is going to have to take a deal he doesn’t like either. Why do a warm-up fight? Amir Khan knocked out and Kell got stopped. Kell got a fractured eye. He had surgery. ‘You don’t need s warm-up. Let’s go May the 20th or May the 27th’ If we stay at welterweight, we have to fight Errol Spence or fight Amir Khan. We may not be able to fight Amir Khan for the title, but that won’t get in the way. If the Khan fight came, I don’t care about the belt. We’d do it,” said Hearn.
Well, I can’t say I’m surprised that Hearn wants Brook to steer around the Spence fight. I saw that one coming from a mile away. I doubt that Khan is going to agree to fight Brook on May 20 or May 27 like Hearn wants him to though, which means that Brook will either need to fight Spence next or vacate. If Brook vacates his IBF title and fights someone else in a stay busy fight, it’s going to make him look really bad in the eyes of boxing fans.
Hearn wants Brook to move up to 154 to go after one of the titles in that weight class. There are no soft jobs for Brook to fight at junior middleweight right now. If Hearn throws Brook in with IBF champion Jermall Charlo, it’s going to be a nightmare for Brook, because Charlo has crushing power and incredible talent. Charlo’s brother Jermell is also a very, very good fighter. I can’t see Brook beating him.
WBA champion Erislandy Lara is probably too good as well for Brook. Saul Canelo Alvarez hasn’t given up his WBO title at 154 yet, but once he does, Demetrius Andrade is waiting to pounce on it. Brook definitely can’t beat Andrade in my opinion. That’s a bad match-up for Brook. The only soft job I see for Brook at 154 is WBA World champion Jack Culcay. Could Hearn get Brook a fight straightaway against Culcay? I wouldn’t be surprised if he did, but what kind of respect what Brook get if he went after what many boxing fans see as the weakest of the champions at 154? Wouldn’t the fans realize what’s happening and bellyache about it?
I mean, if you’re going to go after a champion at junior middleweight, then kind of have to go after one of the Charlo brothers or Lara if you want the boxing fans to respect you. Brook isn’t going to beat those guys. As such, it doesn’t pay off to see Brook vacate his IBF title to avoid Spence in order to move up to 154. The only move that Brook has is to fight Khan at 147. If Khan won’t do that now, then Brook will need to make a decision to fight Spence – and likely lose badly – or vacate the IBF title and take an easy fight against someone like the guys that Brook has been padding his record with for the last 13 years of his pro career.