Terence Crawford vs. Kell Brook is official.
Crawford, the welterweight titleholder from Omaha, Nebraska, will defend his belt against Kell Brook of Great Britain on Nov. 14, Top Rank said in a news release. The promotional company said a venue will be announced soon.
The card, which also includes a junior bantamweight rematch between Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney, will be televised on ESPN.
Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) will be making the fourth defense of the title he won when he stopped Jeff Horn in nine rounds in June 2018. He’s coming off a ninth-round KO of Egidijus Kavaliauskas last December.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) outpointed Shawn Porter to win a welterweight title in 2014 and successfully defended three times.
He then had back-to-back fights from hell. He moved up two weight classes to take on middleweight champ Gennadiy Golovkin and was stopped in five rounds. He then moved back down to defend his title against Errol Spence Jr. and was KO’d in 11 rounds. He suffered facial-bone injures in both fights.
The Sheffield fighter has since defeated three solid, but second-tier opponents at junior middleweight, meaning he’ll have to move back down one weight class. He’s 34.
“I’ve been told there are people writing off my chances, questioning my age and my ability to make the weight,” Brook said. “Well, let them talk. Some people focus on reading headlines, I focus on making headlines. Those people writing me off as a big underdog? No problem.
“I guess this big dog will be making a few people richer during a difficult time. Terence (33) isn’t too much younger than me. They know that I’ve never ducked a challenge, and they should know that I’ve never failed to make 147 on the scales.
“With age comes experience. My knowledge and experience make me a different fighter, a more mature fighter. Couple that with a happy fighter, and you’ve got yourself a dangerous fighter.”
Franco (17-1-2, 8 KOs) defeated Moloney (21-1, 14 KOs) by a unanimous decision on June 23 inside the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas.
“I am extremely excited and motivated for my rematch with Franco,” said Moloney, who is from Australia. “I’m very grateful that Top Rank has given me the opportunity to get my revenge and reclaim my [secondary] world title.
“I have been working extremely hard every day to make sure that world title is strapped back around my waist on Nov. 14.”
Moloney’s brother, Jason, is a bantamweight contender.