By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten welterweight contender Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s looking for a big name for the 25-year-old Brook’s next fight on July 7th in Sheffield, naming guys like 40-year-old Shane Mosley, Marcos Maidana and Paulie Malignaggi as the people they’re after for that date.

However, that looks to be a pipe dream on Hearns’ part because those guys likely aren’t going to travel to the UK to fight an unknown fighter like Brook. One fighter who is willing to take him on is former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey (36-4, 21 KO’s). He’s very interested in fighting Brook, but he said he was turned down recently for a fight against him. I wonder why? If Hearn can’t get those guys then why turn Clottey? My guess is he’s too damn good for Brook and they don’t want to see him get beaten before the gravy train gets started. How sad.

Clottey said this on his twitter on Tuesday about wanting to fight Brook: “I want Kell Brook fight. My people spoke to his guys and they say no. If they want it, I am ready. Contact Top Rank. I never heard of of this Brook guy til recently. All my fans demanding I fight him. Fine. I can go to the UK or USA. I dont care. 147 is fine too.”

Clottey, 34, last fought in November of last year, destroying Calvin Green in a 2nd round TKO. Previous to that, Clottey was beaten by WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in March 2010. That wasn’t one of Clottey’s best performances but he said he went into the fight filling ill from something he had eaten the night before and he didn’t have his full strength for that fight. He still gave Pacquiao a lot of problems by standing up to his shots and landing some nice punches every now and then. Clottey held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title from August 2nd, 2008 until vacating it on April 16th in 2009. His best wins of his career have come against Zab Judah, Diego Corrales and Shamone Alvarez. A lot of boxing fans thought Clottey fought well enough to deserve a decision in his 12 round split decision loss to Miguel Cotto in June 2009. Whatever the case, Clottey fought Cotto to a virtual standstill in that fight and looked really good.