Terence Crawford is as in the dark as the rest of the sport as to whether forthcoming opponent Kell Brook will be able to challenge for his title.
‘Bud’ is planning on putting his WBO welterweight belt on the line versus Brook on November 14th – provided the Briton can make the weight.
Should Brook fail, Crawford is expected to allow the Yorkshireman to continue the fight in a non-title capacity. Not to mention with a hefty monetary penalty.
Notoriously tight at 147 pounds, Brook hasn’t campaigned at the lower limit since a May 2017 defeat to Errol Spence Jr.
Since then, ‘The Special One’ has been fighting over 150 pounds, with two out of his last three bouts taking place at super welterweight.
It’s no secret Brook wasn’t planning on going back down, although the Sheffield man couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs), from Sheffield, England, is a former welterweight world champion who made three successful defenses of the IBF title he won from Shawn Porter in 2014.
That defeat to Spence at welterweight remains his only loss at the limit. It was also a competitive fight that ended in the 11th round after he suffered a broken orbital bone.
Since then, Brook has won three bouts, including February’s seventh-round stoppage over Mark DeLuca.
Brook has long campaigned for the Crawford bout, and earlier this year, he ran into the American at the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury II weigh-in.
There, Crawford asked the big question we all want to know.
“You gonna make weight?” Crawford asked Brook.
Responding, Brook answered: “You’re running out of opponents. I’m here.”
TERENCE CRAWFORD
Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), the pride of Omaha, Neb., has reigned as WBO welterweight world champion since June 9, 2018.
The 33-year-old 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. He 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.
Crawford was the lineal lightweight and undisputed junior welterweight world champion before his welterweight world title campaign.
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