Terence Crawford: I'm Not Worried About People Trying To Say Brook Is Washed Up

Terence Crawford isn’t paying much mind to what doubters are saying and writing about Kell Brook.

Crawford’s 34-year-old opponent Saturday night is a former IBF welterweight champion who has lost only to Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. Brook is 3-0 since losing those back-to-back bouts by knockout in September 2016 and May 2017, but he hasn’t defeated an elite-level welterweight since he edged Shawn Porter by majority decision six years ago to win the IBF 147-pound crown.

Brook, who notoriously struggled to make the welterweight limit during his physical prime, has not squeezed down to 147 pounds since Spence knocked him out in the 11th round almost 3½ years ago.

Those that view Crawford-Brook as a glorified mismatch believe Brook draining himself to make 147 pounds for Friday’s weigh-in will weaken him and create another disadvantage for the former champion in their 12-round WBO title fight at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Brook has suffered broken orbital bones in each of his last two fights with top opponents as well. The Sheffield, England, native had surgery to repair a fractured right eye socket following his fifth-round TKO defeat to Golovkin and the same procedure to fix a broken left orbital bone after the Spence fight.

Crawford hasn’t allowed the majority of the boxing public’s perception of Brook to impact his preparation for a main event ESPN and Premier Sports 1 will televise in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively.

“I’m not worried about people trying to say he washed up or try to downgrade him,” Crawford said Monday during a virtual conference call. “You know, I use that as a distraction. You know, I’m prepared for the best Kell Brook that we possibly can prepare for come Saturday. And we’re gonna be ready for whichever Kell shows up this week.”

The 33-year-old Crawford expects the best Brook because Brook obviously views this as his last chance against an undefeated star who is generally regarded as one of the top two boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport.

“It’s gonna be a good fight, you know,” Crawford said. “Who knows? I’m sharp as a razor right now, so we’re gonna see.”

Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), a three-division champion from Omaha, Nebraska, is listed as at least a 14-1 favorite to beat Brook (39-2, 27 KOs). Brook predicted during the aforementioned conference call that he will either stop Crawford inside the distance or make him quit on his stool. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.