By Matt Lieberman: Kell Brook remains a possibility for welterweight world champion Terence Crawford’s next fight in 2020, according to British promoter Eddie Hearn.
The Matchroom Boxing boss Hearn says he spoke to Bob Arum and Carl Morretti of Top Rank this past week in the making the Crawford vs. Brook fight, and he’s hoping to get that fight put together.
Hearn states that WBO welterweight champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) and former IBF 147-lb champion Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) want a lot of money for that match-up, which is difficult in this climate.
Where will the money come from for Crawford-Brook?
Without boxing fans being able to attend fights, it makes things tricky to come up with the same type of revenue as before to pay fighters, especially the ones that require large purses to fight.
Brook is used to getting paid well for his fights, and he likely would expect a massive payday in checking the undefeated Crawford for his WBO title. It’s a risky fight for Brook, and it wouldn’t make sense for him to receive little money.
Putting Crawford-Brook on ESPN pay-per-view might turn out to be a disaster for Top Rank, given the timing. Moreover, Brook isn’t a household name in the U.S, and neither if Terence.
“I had a couple of conversations with Bob [Arum] and Carl Moretti yesterday. And I feel that’s a big fight for UK TV, so we’re trying to help out and get that over the line,” said Eddie Hearn to IFL TV on a title match between Crawford and Brook.
“I would love to see Kell get that fight. I think they [Top Rank] had a conversation with Keith Thurman, and obviously they wanted too much money. It’s difficult at the moment.
“Crawford wants a lot of money, and Kell wants a lot of money. He deserves it. We’re trying to make that fight happen to assist Top Rank in getting the numbers together,” said Hearn.
Brook, 34, and Crawford haven’t fought this year, and this fight must get made if the two of them want to return to the ring in 2020. Crawford, 32, hasn’t fought since beating #1 ranked WBO contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas by a 9th round TKO on December 14 in New York.
Pacquiao not an option for Crawford
Terence’s promoter Bob Arum brought up Manny Pacquiao’s name recently as a possible next opponent for him, but that fight remains doubtful. Arum says that he needs an outside investor to stage the Pacquiao vs. Crawford contest in a foreign country, and thus far, it’s not happened.
Brook is the other name that Arum has talked about for Crawford, but it’s going to be challenging to make that kind of fight without fans. If Crawford and Brook were more popular, Arum could put the fight on pay-per-view in the U.S, but that’s not the case.
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr is scheduled to defend his titles against Danny Garcia on November 21 on Fox Sports pay-per-view, but those two are two fighters that have a lot of boxing fans that follow them.
Unfortunately for Crawford, he’s not a massive star nationwide in the States, and his large fanbase in Nebraska won’t make up the difference in bringing in PPV buys for his next title defense.
In Brook’s case, only the hardcore boxing fans in the U.S know of him, and many of them think he’s washed up after losses to Spence and Gennady Golovkin.
Brook still has a lot left in the tank, but he’s hurt his career by not staying active against world-level opposition since his loss to Spence in 2017. Sadly, Brook has fought only three times since his defeat at the hands of Errol.
The hard-hitting Kell has had eye problems that limited his activity following his defeat against Spence in 2017, but he still should have fought more than just three times. That’s something you can blame on Brook, as he should have stayed relevant by competing as much as possible.
Age is creeping up on the Nebraska star
Crawford will be turning 33 next month on September 28, and he needs to get back in the ring before the end of the year.
In an interview this year, Crawford said that he would need to be paid extra to fight without fans because he would want the type of money that a reasonable match would make. In other words, Crawford wouldn’t want to take a pay cut by fighting behind closed doors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPGcQbyuQeo&t=74s
That makes sense, but it won’t help him stay busy while the pandemic is going on. If Crawford decides to wait until crowds return to boxing events, his next fight could take place in 2021. It would be a shame for Crawford not to fight this year, but you can see why he would prefer to wait until 2021 before fighting again.
If Crawford doesn’t fight this year, he’ll be coming into 2021 off of a long layoff, and that’s not going to help him gain fans. What’s troubling is there are no guarantees when boxing fans are allowed back into events in the U.S.
If Crawford makes the mistake of assuming that crowds will return by next year, that may not happen if the pandemic continues to be an issue.