By Chris Williams: Eddie Hearn says Kell Brook vs. Terence Crawford will get made for November 14th in the U.S. He’s confident the fight will be negotiated, and it’ll take place in November. It won’t be shown on UK television, according to Hearn. That won’t make Brook’s British boxing fans happy, but that’s how it goes.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum needs to get the fight with Brook done if he wants his fighter Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) to get out this year. Crawford has been sitting inactive the entre years since beating fellow Top Rank fighter Egidijus Kavaliauskas last December.
With Crawford about to turn 33 this month on September 28th, Arum must get him in the ring in 2020 so that he has something to show for this year.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) will be coming down in weight from 154 to 147 to challenge Crawford or his WBO welterweight title.
Although Brook isn’t ranked in the top 15 at 147, he does hold a #10 ranking with the WBO at junior middleweight. That’s likely enough for the WBO to sanction the Crawford vs. Brook fight.
Fans overlooking threat Brook poses
“I’ve kind of left a lot of discussions on their side,” said Hearn to IFL TV on the Crawford vs. Brook negotiations. “I talked to Kell’s dad yesterday, and I talked to [Bob] Arum about it on Sunday.
“It’s unlikely Kell will have UK TV. Obviously, it’s in America, and obviously, it’s on ESPN. So were there 100 percent to support him. We want to get the fight.
“He’s training hard, and people are writing him off. But Kell Brook can fight, and he’s got a lot of fire in his belly. I think that there are a lot of lost years with Kell, and I think he knows that” Hearn said on the Crawford vs. Brook fight.
Top Rank doesn’t have any other options for Crawford. So if this fight doesn’t get made with Kell, then Crawford will likely sit for the remainder of 2020. Brook, even at 34, would immediately be the best opponent that Crawford will have faced in his professional career.
Brook could surprise Crawford if he doesn’t suffer another freak eye injury like the ones that occurred against Errol Spence Jr and Gennady Golovkin. Kell fought well in both of those fights, but his eyes betrayed him. The excellent news is Brook hasn’t had any eye issues in his last three contests.
The bad news is, Brook hasn’t fought anyone good since his 11th round knockout loss to Spence in May 2017. Kell took a knee and quit in the 11th round in that fight because he’d suffered an eye injury. In Brook’s three fights since he’s beaten these fringe level contenders at 154:
- Sergey Rabchenko
- Michael Zerafa
- Mark DeLuca
Brook fought well against DeLuca earlier this year, stopping him in the 7th round in February 2020. That was the old Brook that boxing fans had remembered him from before he was beaten in consecutive fights against GGG and Spence.
Hearn confident Crawford-Brook happens on Nov.14
“I think he’s got the bit between his teeth to do something special in the back end of his career,” said Hearn. “It’s a very, very tough fight, especially at 147 pounds for Kell, but he can really fight.
“I spoke to his dad. We’re a million percent behind him. I think that fight will get over the line for November 14th as well. Don’t rule him out in that fight.
“For me, Terence Crawford is one of the best fighters pound-for-pound in the world, but as I said, Kell can fight, and I’ll be behind him every step of the way,” said Hearn.
That would be good if Brook gets the fight with Crawford, as it would give a chance to try and dethrone Terence.
Top Rank has been incredibly careful in the type of fighters they’ve matched Crawford with since they started promoting him years ago. Hence, it’s hard to tell how good Crawford is.
The only thing we know is Crawford struggled to bet 5’5″ Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014 and had a lot of issues with Amir Khan, Briedis Prescott, and ‘Mean Machine’ Kavaliauskas. If Brook takes the fight to Crawford, he’s got a good chance of unseating him.
What Brook can’t do is fight Crawford with his back against the ropes like he was doing against Golovkin in 2016. That won’t work. If Brook fights Crawford like that, he’ll get picked apart by his jab.
Crawford is a counter puncher, but he has problems when his opponents throw a lot of shots. Like most counter punchers, they struggle against fighters that overwhelm them with punches.
Brook has the power to give Crawford a lot to think about in this fight. However, we don’t know how well Brook will be able to adjust to draining down to 147 for the contest.
Brook was weight drained in fighting Spence at 147, and he also showed signs of being weakened when he fought Zerafa at 150 in 2018. Brook looked terrible in the Zerafa, and many believe it was the weight loss that accounted for that.