By Chris Wiliams: Kell Brook reports that talks are moving along well for a fight against Terence Crawford in the fall. The management for former IBF welterweight champion Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) is in negotiations for Crawford’s promoters at Top Rank, who are excited about making the fight.
Best of all, WBO 147-pound champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) wants the fight, and that always helps. We’ve seen what happens when Crawford isn’t interested in facing different guys like Gary Russell Jr and Shawn Porter. He tunes them out and goes on about his life.
Brook, 34, reportedly turned down the first offer of $1.5 million from Top Rank, which is embarrassingly low compared to the $4 million that Amir Khan received to face Bud Crawford in April 2019. Kell is said to want $4 million too, as he believes he’s a better fighter than Khan.
Brook wants $4 million
By asking for only $4 million instead of more than that, Brook is giving Crawford a break. Most boxing fans would say that Brook is a far better fighter than Khan, who has fallen in the chin department when he’s faced an opponent that can punch.
Whether Top Rank will bump up their initial bare-bones offer of $1.5 million to close to the $4 million that Brook is interested in receiving for the fight remains to be seen.
The pandemic is taking a massive hit out of the revenue that fights bring in the right now, but that’s not Brook’s fault. He wants what Khan received to fight Brook, and it’s not going to sit well with him if he gets less than a fighter he believes he’s superior to
Yeah, Brook has had issues too in losing to Errol Spence Jr and Gennady Golovkin, but those were injury-related defeats. Kell was beating both of those fighters up until he experienced eye injuries.
“Talks are progressing and we feel like we are edging closer,” Kell said to Sky Sports News. “My team has been in regular dialogue with Bob Arum.
“He [Arum] assures us that both he and Crawford are bang up for it, so hopefully we can get it over the line and give the fight fans something to get excited about and to close 2020 in style,” said Brook.
We don’t know what we’re going to get out of the 32-year-old Crawford, as he’s never fought anyone as talented as Brook. Terence has been a professional for 12 years, but the best name on his resume is Yuriorkis Gamboa. The rest of the guys have been pedestrian-level contenders like Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Amir Khan, Julius Indongo, and Jeff Horn.
Terence and Kell are the same age
Crawford hit the deck against his last opponent Kavaliauskas in the 5th round last December. Still, the referee blew the call and ruled it a slip. Hopefully, we don’t see additional poor officiating when Brook faces Crawford.
The 34-year-old Brook isn’t worried about his age because he notes that he and Crawford are the same age. Crawford is turning 33 this month on September 28th, and he’s not a young kitten.
The real difference is that Brook has fought MUCH better opposition than Crawford has, and when you face better guys, you get some wear and tear.
Brook has fought the following talents:
- Gennady Golovkin
- Shawn Porter
- Errol Spence Jr
Kell is already giving away a massive bonus to Crawford by agreeing to come down to 147 rather than making him come up to 154 if he wants to face him. Brook hasn’t fought at welterweight in three years, and he’s very likely to be weight drained for his fight with Terence.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Brook still can’t win because he’s got the type of power that is still amazing even when he’s weakened from weight loss.
But when you look at what Brook is giving Crawford in terms of the weight for the fight, it doesn’t make sense for him to agree to anything less than what he’s asking for with his purse. If Brook agrees to the $1.5 million or even $3 million, he would be selling himself short.
Can Top Rank afford Brook?
For Brook to receive the kind of money he’s asking for to face Crawford, Top Rank will probably need to peddle the Crawford-Brook fight on ESPN pay-per-view. Right now, that’s not a good idea, with the U.S economy doing dreadfully wrong with steep unemployment due to the pandemic shutting down businesses.
If Top Rank digs deep and gives Brook what he’s asking for to face Crawford on regular ESPN, they can always arrange a rematch in 2021 on pay-per-view if the contest is an exciting one, which many believe it’ll be.
There’s a good chance that Crawford will lose to Brook, and that makes the rematch between all the bigger in 2021.
Crawford’s best opponents:
- Yuriorkis Gamboa
- Viktor Postol
- Amir Khan
- Jeff Horn
- Jose Benavidez Jr
- Egidijus Kavaliauskas
- Felix Diaz
- Ricky Burns
‘There’s no there,’ as American novelist Gertrude Stein once said, and that comment fits for Crawford’s record. Stein was referring to her life in Oakland, California.
As you can see, Crawford’s resume is barren of talent. In looking at Crawford’s meager list of best opponents, it’s easy to see Brook sweeping through the entire list with nothing but knockouts.
Crawford hasn’t fought anyone like Brook
The real tragedy is that Crawford has been built up to be the #1 fighter in boxing and considered the top pound-for-pound guy even though he’s NEVER fought anyone with talent.
It just shows you what promoters can do by carefully managing the careers of their fighters by maneuvering them around dangerous guys and matching exclusively against guys they know they can beat.
All we can say about Crawford is he’s a good fighter, but he’s entirely unproven. Not only Brook would beat everyone that Crawford has ever fought, but also Errol Spence Jr, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, and Yordenis Ugas. Those guys would have no problems with the opposition that Top Rank has fed Crawford during his career.
“Date wise, Bob Arum is looking at mid-November,” Brook continued. “People talk about the age factor, but overlook that Terence will be 33 himself by the time we fight. There isn’t much between us.
“He’s never been in with anyone as strong, powerful, quick and with the timing I possess. I think he knows that too. Nobody at 147 can take that right hand from me,” said Brook.
Is Kell too powerful for Bud?
It’s a given that Crawford hasn’t fought anyone with the type of power that Brook possesses; that’s the scary part. When you take a guy with an inflated record and put him in with someone talented for the first time in their careers, it’s hard to know what will happen.
Crawford could fall apart entirely when he gets in there with Brook, and the boxing fans will be wondering afterward what they ever saw in the Nebraska native. Egidijus Kavaliauskas can punch a little, but he’s not on the same level as Brook in power or the skills department.
We saw that in Kavaliauskas’s fight before that against Ray Robinson in which he appeared to lose badly but was given a 10 round draw in their battle in March 2019. Instead of Crawford fighting Robinson, he took the easy mark in Kavaliauskas, and the outcome was predictable.