WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford will defend his title against former welterweight world champion Kell Brook on Saturday, November 14 at a venue to be announced.
In the world championship co-feature, Joshua “El Profesor” Franco will defend his WBA regular super flyweight title against former world champion Andrew “The Monster” Moloney in a rematch of their June bout, won by Franco via decision.
“Kell Brook is one of the elite fighters in the world. He has faced so many of the top boxers,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “He is a real test for pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford. This is another premium fight that will be available to boxing fans for no extra charge live on ESPN.”
Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), from Omaha, Nebraska, has reigned as WBO welterweight champion since June 9, 2018, when he stopped Jeff “The Hornet” Horn in nine one-sided rounds. He has since defended that world title three times, including a sixth-round demolition over former unified junior welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan in April 2019. Crawford has not fought since last December’s ninth-round TKO over Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas and will enter the ring against Brook coming off a career-long 11-month layoff.
He has won seven straight bouts by knockout since a one-sided decision over Viktor Postol in a July 2016 junior welterweight unification bout. Prior to his welterweight world title campaign, Crawford was the lineal lightweight and undisputed junior welterweight world champion.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs), from Sheffield, England, is a former welterweight world champion who made three successful defences of the IBF title he won from Shawn Porter in 2014. His only defeat at welterweight came to Errol Spence Jr. in May 2017.
Brook said, “I would just like to say a big thank you to Bob Arum and his team at Top Rank and to Baz Kandiara and my management team for getting the fight made. Thank you also to Terence Crawford and his team. It’s a fantastic fight, a proper fight for the fans to get excited about. I’m sure it’s one that will have viewers on the edge of their seats, whichever side of the pond they’re from.
“I’ve been told there are people writing off my chances, questioning my age, and my ability to make the weight. Well, let them talk. Some people focus on reading headlines, I focus on making headlines. Those people writing me off as a big underdog? No problem. I guess this big dog will be making a few people richer during a difficult time.
“Terence isn’t too much younger than me. They know that I’ve never ducked a challenge, and they should know that I’ve never failed to make 147 on the scales. With age comes experience. My knowledge and experience make me a different fighter, a more mature fighter. Couple that with a happy fighter, and you’ve got yourself a dangerous fighter.”