Kell Brook: ‘I can’t say Crawford beats Spence’

By Boxing News - 11/15/2020 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) was stopped in the fourth round by WBO welterweight titleholder Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) last Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Brook got caught with a shot that he didn’t see with the weak right hook that Crawford hurt him with.

Interestingly, the former IBF welterweight champion Brook wouldn’t say that Crawford would beat IBF/WBC champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr (26-0, 21 KO) despite being asked several times by ESPN commentator Mark Kriegel after the fight.

Brook foiled a post-fight interview by ESPN when he wouldn’t tell the commentator that Crawford will beat Spence Jr. One got the sense that the ESPN commentator wanted Brook to say that Crawford would beat Spence, but he wouldn’t do it.

Brook wasn’t about to hype Crawford by saying that he would beat Spence when he clearly didn’t believe that.

You can’t blame Brook for not saying something that he didn’t believe because Crawford didn’t look nearly as powerful or as talented as Spence did in his fight with a younger Kell. Crawford looked average last night, very average.

Crawford hit the 34-year-old Brook with a weak-looking right hook in the fourth, and he surprisingly hurt from the shot.  The fight was over 20 seconds later, following a standing eight count.

Brook won’t admit Crawford would beat Spence

“They’re both perfect; I’ve got nothing against any of them,” said Brook when asked, ‘what’s the difference between Errol Spence and Terence Crawford?’ “They’ve been brought up the traditional way in how to box in America.

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“In Britain, we’re a bit behind the times. It’s a bit different, but I think that would be the fight [Spence vs. Crawford] to make.

“Even though he stopped me tonight, Terence, I can’t sit here and say he would do that to Spence or he would beat Spence. It would be a fight still for everyone to see,” said Brook on a fight between Spence and Crawford.

ESPN can’t expect Brook to do their work for them by hyping the Crawford vs. Spence fight. If they want to hype it, they need to start on their own, but Brook isn’t going to do the heavy lifting for them by blabbering about how he thinks.

Image: Kell Brook: 'I can't say Crawford beats Spence'
Crawford would beat Spence. The reason Brook wouldn’t say that because he clearly doesn’t think Crawford can beat Spence because he’s not as good as him.

Crawford looked like a 140-pounder, and not a great one at that last Saturday. If Brook were still in his prime, he would have beaten the brakes off this version of Crawford. Chris Williams hates to say it, but both Crawford and Brook looked faded last night.

The way Crawford fought last night, a half dozen welterweights would have beaten him. He’s clearly not one of the best at 147. Crawford took advance of his cherry-pick by beating an inactive, shot Brook, who hasn’t looked like the same fighter since Gennadiy Golovkin beat him in 2016.

That loss to GGG took something out of Brook, leaving the fragile egg-shell version of what we saw last Saturday night against Crawford.

Kell unable to let his hands go

“I think his timing is great,” said Brook about Crawford. “I did have a little bit of success, but for some reason, I didn’t feel comfortable letting my hands pop.

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“That’s what he made me do. I’ve seen great fighters and him come out, and I’ve seen him [Crawford] in different fights, and he took in lots of shots.

“And I’ve seen him with fighters, and he doesn’t take that many shots because that fighter makes him do that.

“He obviously made me do that. It’s a funny one and an odd one, but he’s a great talent, he’s obviously a great talent,” Brook said of Crawford.

The reason Brook couldn’t let his hands go is that he’s become too muscle-bound as he’s gotten older. He’s put on too much muscle, and he’s now more like a bodybuilder than a fighter, and completely robotic.

Image: Kell Brook: 'I can't say Crawford beats Spence'

Crawford didn’t make Brook not let his hands go; he did. This is the same look that we’ve seen from Brook in his fights against Michael Zerafa and Mark DeLuca. He’s musclebound now and too slow because of all the weight lifting he’s been doing. Brook doesn’t need to lift weights for him to have power, and he’s been wasting his time.