The proposed bout between WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and former IBF title-holder Kell Brook is edging closer to reality.
Discussions have gathered pace as all parties move towards a November 14 date, according to Steve Kim at ESPN.com.
Crawford’s Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum had also been working on a deal for a fight against WBA Super champion Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East, but that proved impossible for now given the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 Pandemic.
”Kell Brook is a free agent and we’re discussing a Crawford fight with the Kell Brook people,” Arum told Steve Kim. “That’s on top of our wish list.
“I don’t think [Crawford-Pacquiao] is going to be possible this year, maybe next year. We’re working on it, we had the go-ahead to do it, but then the minister of health said, ‘not this year, look to do it next year’.”
Three-weight champion Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) was last in action in December 2019, halting Lithuanian banger Egidijus Kavaliauskas in nine.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) has had just three fights in three years in a stop-start campaign at 154lbs that has never caught light, but the Sheffield sharpshooter has shed weight easily in training and is primed for a return to welterweight.