Former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook is looking increasingly likely to be the next opponent for pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) has only fought once in the last 20 months as a move to 154lbs has failed to pay dividends, but his name still carries significance in the US market.
It now appears that Brook is the front-runner for WBO welterweight king Crawford with WBA Super title-holder and eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao also under consideration.
A Crawford-Pacquiao clash would have a number of roadblocks to negotiate, given the magnitude of that potential fight. Already a testing negotiation, it’s a far harder match to make in the current Covid-19 climate with purses limited and no fans in attendance, as well as promotional differences and balancing the Filipino Senator’s political responsibilities.
Now it seems Crawford-Brook is all but decided. “[Top Rank President] Bob Arum told me tonight that Terence Crawford will either fight Manny Pacquaio or Kell Brook in November,” tweeted Lance Pugmire of The Athletic last night. “No mention of [WBO 154lbs champion] Patrick Teixeira. So that means, as many long suspected, the opponent is Brook.”
Brook stated last month that he was weighing surprisingly light after training with world champions Josh Taylor and Billy Joe Saunders in Fuerteventura, Spain. Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) was last seen stopping Egidijus Kavaliauskas in nine rounds at Madison Square Garden in December.