By Edward Chaykovsky
Matchroom Sports head Eddie Hearn would like to have Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs), but says at the moment Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs) is the likely option for Special K's next fight.
There is a purse bid scheduled for February 7th. Brook will have to go forward with the fight or vacate the IBF welterweight title. With a 75-25 split in Brook's favor, there is little chance of the fight taking place in the United States.
Brook was last in action back in September, when he moved up by two full weight divisions to challenge middleweight king Gennady Golovkin at the O2 Arena in London. Golovkin stopped Brook in five rounds fractured his orbital bone.
Because of Brook's physical struggles to make the welterweight limit of 147, Hearn would like the junior middleweight division to be his next destination.
Hearn is scheduled to have a meeting with Brook on Friday and there are going to sort out the next move - move to 154 or fight Spence.
Brook himself would rather stay at 147, because he wants to keep the option open of a future fight with domestic rival Amir Khan, who has no plans to fight any higher than welterweight. Brook captured the IBF title in the fall of 2014 with a close points win over Shawn Porter in Los Angeles.
"I want him to move to 154lbs, he doesn't want to vacate his title, so if he doesn't vacate his title, he has to fight Errol Spence," said Hearn to Sky Sports.
"It's a big fight, but it's a tough fight. I just feel like why be in the fights that are as tough as that when you're going to deplete yourself and take away some of your advantages.
"We've got a meeting on Friday and we will make our decision then. It looks like Errol Spence next. At this stage 70-80 per cent [likely]."
