By Edward Chaykovsky
IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) is not looking to leave the 147 ranks any time soon.
Brook already has a mandatory defense on schedule against Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs), which is being targeted for Sheffield United's Bramall Lane on May 27.
Most had expected the fight with Spence to be Brook's last at 147-pounds, but the Sheffield fighter is looking to stick around just a little bit longer.
Brook wants to unify the welterweight division by facing newly unified WBC/WBA world champion Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs).
Thurman unified the titles this past Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with a close twelve round split decision over previously unbeaten Danny Garcia's (33-1, 19 KOs).
Brook had picked Thurman to win and had no surprise over the outcome. He hopes the two of them can fight before the year's end.
"Garcia and Thurman are both very good champions and it was very hard to split them but I thought Thurman would win the fight because Garcia had not faced a true welterweight before," Brook told ESPN from his training camp in Fuerteventura.
"Thurman is a big welterweight who has competed at that weight his whole career. I would definitely like to fight Thurman because I want to unify the division before I move up. I think that would be a very explosive fight, me and Keith Thurman.
"I spoke to him backstage before I fought Shawn Porter [in 2014] and he said 'You're the boy from England, I'm looking forward to seeing you fight.' And I said the same to him because he stands out from all the rest of the welterweights for me."
Ironically, Brook's domestic rival - Amir Khan - is mandatory challenger to Thurman's WBC world title. But Khan may very well lose that position, if the Bolton man moves forward with a potential fight against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
