As World Boxing News reported earlier this week, Kell Brook has withdrawn from the forthcoming Anthony Joshua bill in New York.
‘The Special One’ was pencilled in for the Madison Square Garden card for some months, but after some deliberation, Brook has decided to concentrate on a big fight.
Featuring on Joshua’s US debut against Andy Ruiz was only scheduled to be a stay-busy affair. Ditching June 1 means room for movement on a huge outing next.
As WBN also revealed in an exclusive interview with Amir Khan on Thursday, Brook has targeted a fight with Terence Crawford.
According to Khan, who has effectively ruled himself out of the running, Crawford v Brook will happen in 2019.
“I’m hearing he’s fighting Crawford next. I think they just don’t have that many opponents for Crawford,” Khan told WBN.
“They might just take the Brook fight. I think there’s some truth in that. I believe he could face Crawford next.”
Hearn, speaking to Sky Sports, ratified both WBN points. The Matchroom boss also mentioned Khan, but WBN knows the former world champion is not in the running.
“He’s not fighting June 1st,” Hearn confirmed. “He just wants to jump into a mega fight now.
“He wants the Terence Crawford fight. We’ll see if the Amir Khan fight can ever materialize. It’s still a big fight, it’s still a fight people want to see.
“Khan didn’t really take a lot of damage in the Crawford fight, apart from one in the nuts, so we’ll have to see.
MOTIVATION
“But Kell wants Crawford, he wants Khan, he wants any major fight. I don’t think he can get himself motivated for anything else.
“There hasn’t been any conversation since the (Crawford v Khan) fight. We’re due one this week, so we’ll see,” he added.
Brook has been largely inactive over the past couple of years, losing to Errol Spence and Gennady Golovkin since stepping up in class.
Wins over Sergey Rabchenko and Michael Zerafa are not ideal preparation for a top, top name. Although Brook is at the stage of his career where a big payday can send him into retirement a happy man.
Broken eye sockets on either side of his face have left Brook in a vulnerable position moving forward.
