By Barry Holbrook: Terence Crawford will NOT be fighting Kell Brook next according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. The Top Rank promoter Arum ruled out the idea of Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) defending his WBO welterweight title against former IBF 147 pound champion Brook (38-2, 26 KOs). Arum feels that the 33-year-old Brook is not meaningful fight for Crawford.
Former welterweight champion Brook’s once promising career has taken a nosedive since 2016 in losses to Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. Brook has made things worse for himself by fighting lesser opposition since 2018, and wasting valuable time chasing Amir Khan in trying to get a fight against him.
Kell Brook “means nothing anymore” says Arum
“He’s going to fight once this year, and then we’ll see what happens going forward,” said Arum to Barbershop Conversations about Terence Crawford. “The fight that he’d like is [Errol] Spence. Kell Brook means nothing anymore. Yeah, the Spence-Porter fight is on pay-per-view. It’s not going to do any business. So in order to do business with Spence and Crawford, they have to fight each other,’ said Arum.
The British fighter Kell Brook isn’t a well known commodity in the eyes of the casual boxing fans in the United States, and that’s what Arum is talking about. It’s not that Brook isn’t still a talented fighter, because he clearly is. He’s only fought in the U.S once in 2014 against Shawn Porter, and he’s not been back.
Arum needs fighters that can drive ticket sales and bring in pay-per-view buys for Crawford’s fights in America, and Brook can’t do that.
Top Rank made offer to Danny Garcia for Crawford fight
“We didn’t send a contract, but we made an offer,” said Arum in talking about making an offer to Danny Garcia for him to fight Terence Crawford. “We made an offer verbally, and they never responded. We’d like to fight Garcia. That would be great, but I don’t think the father [Angel Garcia] is interested in the fight. Crawford is getting compensated really well. He’s the standard bearer for ESPN, and he’ going to fight the best available guy. And if if some PBC guys aren’t available, then they’re not available. It happens all the time in boxing.
Danny Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) is looking to fight Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao and Shawn Porter. Garcia is with Premier Boxing Champions, and it’s unlikely that he’s going to be matched against Crawford. It’s not a good style match-up for Garcia, who recently lost to Porter last September.
Spence needs Crawford to bring in big PPV numbers says Arum
“The only way Spence is going to do any pay-per-view numbers is to fight Crawford,” said Arum. “Terence does tremendous ratings on ESPN, so ESPN is very happy. Would they like some of the opposition that PBC could offer? Yes, but if it’s there, it’s not there. We take the best path for our fighters,” said Arum.
It’s widely believed Spence will fight Crawford in 2020, because both guys want the fight.