By Max Seitelman: Bob Arum of Top Rank is still working hard on trying to get an outside country to host a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford for this year, but thus far, he’s not sure it can happen.
Kell Brook, the former IBF welterweight champion, is the second option for Arum to match against WBO 147-b champion Crawford if the match against Pacquiao can’t be made.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) has made it known in the last year that he wants the Crawford fight, but Arum has, for some reason, not shown a lot of interest in making that fight. The size and power of Brook make him a difficult option for Crawford, whose best opponent to date is Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Pacquiao-Crawford is too big of a fight for Arum to stage it being closed doors without fans, and that’s why he needs a foreign country to step up and host the site. Right now, it’s not looking good for Pacquiao and Terence 36-0 27 KOs) to take place in 2020 during the pandemic.
Brook has lost weight
“Terence Crawford, we’re trying to put together a fight with Manny Pacquiao, which would be out of the United States,” said Arum to IFL TV. “IF we’re about to do that, then that’s the fight I’m hoping to put together.”
Pacquiao (62-7-2 39 KOs) is a longshot for Crawford, and hopefully, Arum isn’t putting too much hope in getting him to take the fight. Arum would need to come up with a huge offer to get Manny to agree to face Crawford, and he might not want to. Pacquiao
A LOT of great options with Premier Boxing Champion, and he doesn’t need to fight a southpaw counter-puncher that moves a lot as Crawford does.
“But if we’re not able to do that because of the virus, which affects them, no matter how much oil they have,” said Arum. “If we have to do it in The Bubble, we’re looking at Terence possibly fight Kell Brook.
“I talked to the Brook people today, and they know what the situation is. They will be back to us. They assured me that Brook has lost a lot of weight and is in tremendous condition,” said Arum.
Brook and Crawford would be giving up a lot of money in staging a fight between them behind closed doors, but there are no other options. A fight between them might sell on Sky Box Office, but that’s not a certainty. Brook has ruined his career by not being active since his loss to Errol Spence Jr in 2017.
UK Boxing fans might not want to pay to see Brook fight at this point on Sky Box Office, and the American boxing fans won’t order a fight between Brook and Crawford on ESPN PPV.
Crawford-Brook is easier than Pacquiao-Crawford
“I can’t tell you,” said Arum when asked where the possible destination is for Crawford vs. Pacquiao. “We’re working on it, and I’m not sure if it’s going to come to fruition or not come to fruition.
It’s just conjecture at this point. Again, I don’t even have a concrete offer. So it’s silly to talk about it except that both fighters would want it, Crawford and Pacquiao, but again, nothing at all concrete.
“To do a Crawford-Brook fight would be a lot easier because then it would have to be done in the Bubble here in Las Vegas,” said Arum.
It’s time for Arum to put his energy into making the doable fight between Brook and Crawford rather than the one that has little chance of happening involving Manny.
As long a Crawford is mentally ready for what could prove to be an extremely difficult fight against Brook, then he should go ahead. But if Crawford thinks this is going to be another Amor Khan or Jeff Horn fight, he could be mistaken.