By Chris Williams: Kell Brook is still in the running for a fight against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in 2020. Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says the money that Crawford’s promoters have offered Kell (39-2, 27 KOs) at Top Rank isn’t enough to take the fight, but he remains hopeful that the match can take place.
Former IBF welterweight champion Brook, 34, has reportedly been offered $1.5 million to challenge Crawford (36-0, 27 KO. That is lower than what Amir Khan received to face Terence in 2019.
The money isn’t right
It’s unclear whether the money is even at the level Crawford’s last opponent Egidijus ‘Mean Machine’ Kavaliauskas, who isn’t as well known as Brook and has accomplished far, far less in his career. If Brook isn’t even getting more than Kavaliauskas, then that would be troubling.
“I think we’re a little bit out of the money,” said Eddie Hearn to IFL TV on the Crawford vs. Brook fight. “I’ve been across it with Bob [Arum] and Kell’s dad, and those people have been in on it as well. I spoke to Bob and went to America after the Terence Crawford fight last time.
“For me, there’s not enough money at the moment. I don’t think the offer is unreasonable, but for Kell. Kell Brook can fight later this year for great money, but he wants to challenge himself.
“He wants the great fights. But to that, I think he needs to be rewarded for that. This could be his last fight. I think there’s a decent chance it can get made,” said Hearn.
Top Rank is going to need to bump up the offer to Brook if they want him as Crawford’s next opponent. Brook is too well known, and he can make similar, if not greater, money fighting in the UK.
Top Rank can find cheaper options
If there’s no interest in giving Brook a decent payday for the fight, then Top Rank should scout out some of the lower fringe contenders in the World Boxing Organization’s rankings. One of these guys would likely jump at the chance to fight Crawford for $1.5 million:
- David Avanesyan
- Luther Clay
- Yuki Beppu
- Nursultan Zhangabaye
It’s not in Brook’s best interest to fight Crawford for $1.5 million when he would already putting himself at a considerable disadvantage by coming down in weight to 147. Brook fights at 154, and he hasn’t fought in that weight class since his loss to Errol Spence Jr.
Crawford likely won’t agree to fight at 150 or 154 because this would be a title defense for him. Brook is a name for Crawford, and that’s the only reason he’s being considered. When a fighter’s promoter wants a name fighter to face their guys, they usually pay them well.
It doesn’t look like that’s happening with Top Rank in trying to get Brook to face Crawford. If Brook agreed to the $1.5 million, Top Rank would be getting him on the cheap.
Brook is known for his fights against Gennady Golovkin, Spence, Shawn Porter, Matthew Hatton, and Vyacheslav Senchenko. Kell lost to GGG and Spence after suffering eye injuries in 2016 and 2017. Since those two defeats, Brook’s career has withered away with him being inactive and fighting lesser opposition.
Brook better than anyone Crawford has fought
While Brook did look good in his 7th round knockout win over Mark DeLuca last February, he’s not the fighter he was in 2016 when he took on Golovkin. However, even Brook at 70% is better than anyone Crawford has ever fought during his 12-year career.
That’s telling about Crawford. He hasn’t been put in with quality opposition, which is good for him because he probably would have lost a long time ago if he’d fought the lions at 140 and 147.
Right now, there’s the perception that Crawford is the best at 147, but you can’t say that because his opposition has been dreadfully low. All we know is Crawford had problems against Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez, Jeff Horn and Kavaliauskas.
If Crawford is as good as some people think he is, he should have been able to destroy those fighters with ease. He couldn’t. Those were all tough fights for Crawford, as was his match against little 5’5″ Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014.