Arum approached by Kell Brook for Terence Crawford fight

By Boxing News - 07/30/2020 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Bob Arum reports that representatives from former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook have contacted him about possibly facing Terence Crawford in the fall.

A lot of boxing fans are losing patience with the way Crawford is continually being matched against lesser opposition, and they would be pleased to see him face Brook.

Even if the 34-year-old Brook is only 80% of what he used to be, he’s still arguably superior to everyone Crawford has fought during his 12-year career. If Arum isn’t comfortable with letting Crawford fight a guy like Brook, then when will he be?

Kell Brook a risky fight for Crawford

Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) has talked of wanting to fight Crawford for over a year now, but Top Rank hasn’t shown interest in making that fight. Now with Crawford almost no options, it might be a good time for Arum to look in his direction.

The other names that have been floated as potential options are less than appealing. Ray Robinson and Sergey Lipinets are two names rumored to be under consideration for Crawford’s fight. Those guys on the same level as Crawford’s last three opponents.

Brook would be a tougher fight for Crawford than those guys, which might work against him. If Arum is worried about Crawford losing, then it’s reasonable to assume that he’ll put Brook on ignore and go with the weaker options of Robinson or Lipinets.

The Top Rank boss Arum told ESPN that he had a conversation with Crawford and his trainer Brain McIntyre [BoMac] about him fighting on November 14 or 21, and they’re searching for options.

Image: Arum approached by Kell Brook for Terence Crawford fight

Although Arum would like to put together a fight between his guy WBO 147-pound champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) and WBA Manny Pacquiao, he doesn’t know where he could stage it.

We’re in the middle of a pandemic now, and Pacquiao vs. Crawford would need to take place in front of a live crowd. That’s not going to happen by the time Crawford fights in November, so that’s not an option.

The only way Arum can put together a fight between Manny and Crawford is if one of the foreign countries volunteers to stage it. Thus far, no countries are stepping up to host the Pacquiao-Crawford match.

Crawford has a lot of ways to go

Arum told ESPN, “there’s a lot of ways to go” in talking about the next contest for the 32-year-old Crawford. There are indeed a lot of ways for Crawford to go, but unfortunately, most of those ways would lead him down the path of facing inferior opposition like he’s been doing year after year.

Crawford would like to fight the best, but that’s kind of hard when you’re being matched against the likes of Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez, and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

In other words, Crawford would continue to face the same level of opponents that he’s been fighting for pretty much his entire 12-year pro career. He’s only had one step up fight since he turned pro in 2008, and that was against little 5’5″ Yurirokis Gamboa in 2014.

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It’s been all downhill since then, with Crawford fighting the likes of Jeff Horn, Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez, and Egidijus Kavaliauskas. That’s terrible, bad, and bad for Crawford. Surely, Arum can do better than that by giving Crawford a badly needed upgrade by matching him against Brook.

So what if Crawford loses? Arum will likely have a standard rematch clause in the contract so that Brook can’t take off with Bud’s WBO strap. Some fans jokingly all the WBO belt the ‘Top Rank title’ due to so many of their fighters holding that title.

Arum unsure where he could stage Crawford vs. Pacquiao

“Right now, all we’ve done is we’ve contacted Crawford and ‘BoMac’  told them that they’ll fight in November, either the 14th or the 21st, and we’re looking at opponents,” said Arum.

“If it’s Pacquiao and we can do the fight, which is a big ask because where am I going to put it? We can’t do it in the United States because there are no crowds. So again, that it’s Pacquiao and Crawford — it’s misleading,” said Arum.

I may have missed something, but the media aren’t reporting that Pacquiao and Crawford are fighting next. What we’re talking about is the likelihood that Pacquiao will face Mikey Garcia next, not Crawford.

Sean Gibbons of Manny Pacquiao Promotions posted on Instagram this week, showing a photo of Keith Thurman and Mikey Garcia standing side by side with the caption, “One Down and one to go.” If this isn’t a massive hint that Mikey (40-1, 30 KOs) will be next for Manny, then I don’t know what is.

Image: Arum approached by Kell Brook for Terence Crawford fight

Very little chance of Pacquiao facing Crawford

Pacquiao has never shown interest in fighting Crawford, so it’s not a shock if the fight doesn’t happen. With Manny working with Premier Boxing Champions, he has seemingly endless options for great opponents.

With all the guys PBC has, Pacquiao can finish his career fighting them and never have to bother with crossing the pond to face Crawford.

PBC options for Pacquiao

  • Danny Garcia
  • Errol Spence Jr
  • Keith Thurman
  • Shawn Porter
  • Yordenis Ugas

Matchroom has Mikey Garcia, who appears to be the next up for Pacquiao, and he’s not a great choice, but this is the pandemic. That gives Pacquiao a ready-made excuse to give to his boxing fans.

As for Crawford, if Arum is worried about matching him against Brook, then he can pick Lipinets, Robinson, or Mikael Zewski. Choosing one of them won’t help Crawford’s career, but they’re similar talent-wise to the guys he’s been fighting.