Terence Crawford Nearing Deal To Fight Kell Brook In November

KEY POINTS

Terence Crawford is nearing a deal to face Kell Brook in November
Keith Thurman had allegedly refused the purse to fight Crawford
Crawford has not fought since his KO victory over Egidijus Kavaliauskas in December 2019

Terence Crawford is close to securing a deal to fight Kell Brook, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said Tuesday.

After talks of a possible mega bout against Manny Pacquiao seemed to have faltered, Crawford could now be zeroing in on facing Brook on either the 14^th or the 21st of November as Arum admits that discussions with the former welterweight champion are now No. 1 in their priority list.

''Kell Brook is a free agent, and we're discussing a Crawford fight with the Kell Brook people," Arum told ESPN. "That's on top of our wish list."

Brook’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed that dialogue with Arum is indeed underway, saying that an event featuring the British star and the undefeated American champion would be huge for UK TV.

“I had a couple of conversations with Bob (Arum) and (Top Rank VP of operations) Carl Moretti yesterday. And I feel that’s a big fight for UK TV, so we’re trying to help out and get that over the line,” Hearn told IFL TV.

In weeks after Top Rank assessed that a fight against Pacquiao would not be viable this year, reports about Bud Crawford headlining an event with Keith Thurman began to surface. Still and all, both fighters failed to reach an agreement after Thurman allegedly refused to accept a fight purse worth less than $10 million, according to DAZN.

“I would love to see Kell get that fight. I think (Top Rank) had a conversation with Keith Thurman, and obviously they wanted too much money. It’s difficult at the moment. Crawford wants a lot of money, and Kell wants a lot of money. He deserves it. We’re trying to make that fight happen to assist Top Rank in getting the numbers together,” Hearn added.

Brook, the former IBF titleholder, is riding on a three-fight victory surge as he continues to make his way back to ultimate redemption after almost quitting on his career when he absorbed two consecutive setbacks at the hands of Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

The 34-year-old is coming off a seventh-round KO victory over Mark DeLuca in February that improved his professional record to 39 wins and 27 KOs in 41 fights.

Crawford, meanwhile, will look to shake off rust when he enters the ring anew, having not fought since December 2019 when he scored his seventh straight stoppage win at the expense of Egidijus Kavaliauskas.