Crawford on Brook- ‘Never on my radar’

Terence Crawford is in action this week as he defends his WBO welterweight belt against former champion Kell Brook this Saturday night from “The Bubble” in Las Vegas, Nevada, on ESPN.

One thing that was made clear for Crawford speaking with the media on Monday was that he looks at this bout that he didn’t see in his crosshairs but will take care of in the ring Saturday.

“I actually can’t rate him because I’ve never been in the ring with him. Actually, he was never on my radar from the jump,” Crawford stated on the Zoom call on Monday.” This was a fight that he wanted, that he kept calling for.

Once the Pacquiao fight fell through, he was the next option given the circumstances of COVID and whatnot. I must’ve been on his radar. He was never on my radar. He’s on my radar now, and we’re fighting this weekend. That’s what it is.”

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Taking a dive below the surface with @CompuBox, the stats to back up @terencecrawford's dominance are everywhere. These are just a few. ⤵️#CrawfordBrook | SATURDAY | ESPN pic.twitter.com/s0xL0ED4b1

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 10, 2020

Those words from Crawford is of note as two parts. One because that Manny Pacquiao fight hasn’t come through in what seems like forever now. Two because Bob Arum told me to my face that Brook was always the Plan B that goes back to last May before Crawford’s stablemate Jamel Herring captured the title against Masayuki Ito.

Despite not having Brook in mind, Crawford still plans for him Saturday and takes care of business.

“Me, I go about fights to get the win, no matter how they come. I’m not going out there to try and outdo previous performances or any other fighter. My thing is to go out there and make sure I get the win and secure that first, and everything else can come second.

If the knockout is there, of course, I’m going to go out there and take it. But if it’s not, then like I said before, we’re prepared for 12 rounds,” Crawford stated.

Looking forward to this fight because we all know at this point, we’re all better off trying to hit Powerball or strike lightning than the matchup of him between Pacquiao or Errol Spence Jr. soon. This does for Crawford gives him the “common opponent” element with Spence as he defeated Brook in May 2017.

We’ve written countless pieces here on Crawford wanting to take on the bigger names at welterweight, and only time will tell if a victory here will get him closer to that.