Crawford v Brook Anyone?
According to The Athletic, former world champion Kell “Special K” Brook (39-2, 27 KO’s) has been offered $1.5 million to face WBO world welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (36-0, 27 KO’s). If accepted, the bout would air live on ESPN sometime in November. Crawford has yet to fight in 2020.
Although clearly talented, Crawford has remained under constant criticism for his choice of opponents since moving to welterweight in 2018. In general, the fans want to see Bud test his might with the crème of the 147lbs crop, yet those top tier fights have remained evasive. Political hurdles have complicated a bout with WBC and IBF world welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr (26-0, 21 KO’s), while friendship has held up a dust-up with Shawn “Showtime” Porter (31-3-1, 17 KO’s).
In fact, it’s not likely that the boxing public will be giddy to hear about a potential Crawford v Brook showdown. The Special One has not claimed a meaningful win since August 16, 2014 when he defeated Shawn Porter.
Since that time, he has only fought, and beat, inconsequential opposition. Unfortunately, during that same time, he absorbed frightful beatings at the hands of Errol Spence and IBF world middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KO’s). In both bouts, Brook left the ring with a broken orbital bone.
At the same time however, Brook is a big talented welterweight who still enjoys wide spread name recognition. So from this angle, the Special One is not a wholly unpalatable option, especially during the pandemic. He is better for many than, say, WBC world featherweight champion “Mr.” Gary Russell Jr (31-1, 18 KO’s). Recently, Russell has been chasing Crawford with an unrelenting gusto. However, to make that bout a reality, Russell would have to leap up four divisions to 147.
There is no question that Mr. is a talented and decorated fighter, but its highly unlikely to envision him overcoming the height, reach, weight and power discrepancies. So for now, we’ll just have to sit tight and see how this all unfolds!
By: Bakari Simpson
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