Welterweight Champion Terence Crawford Battles Kell Brook November 14 LIVE on ESPN
Crawford-Brook and Joshua Franco-Andrew Moloney world championship rematch
to headline ESPN telecast starting at 10 p.m. ET
*This Bud’s Back: Welterweight Champion Terence Crawford Battles Kell Brook
November 14 LIVE on ESPN and ESPN Deportes*
*Crawford-Brook and Joshua Franco-Andrew Moloney 2 to headline ESPN
telecast starting at 10 p.m. ET Undercard Fights on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET*
*(October 17, 2020)* — The pound-for-pound king is set to reclaim his
throne. WBO welterweight world champion *Terence “Bud” Crawford *will
defend his title against former welterweight world champion *Kell Brook* in
a special edition of *Top Rank on ESPN *Saturday, Nov. 14.
In the world championship co-feature, Joshua “El Profesor” Franco will
defend his WBA super flyweight title against former world champion Andrew
“The Monster” Moloney in a rematch of their June bout, won by Franco via
decision.
Promoted by Top Rank and sponsored by GEICO, ESPN and ESPN Deportes will
televise Crawford-Brook and Franco-Moloney 2 beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m.
PT, while a full slate of undercard bouts will stream live on ESPN+ at 7:30
p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.
Venue information for Crawford-Brook will be announced soon.
“Kell Brook is one of the elite fighters in the world. He has faced so many
of the top boxers,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “He is a real test for
pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford. This is another premium fight that
will be available to boxing fans for no extra charge live on ESPN.”
Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), the pride of Omaha, Neb., has reigned as WBO
welterweight world champion since June 9, 2018, when he stopped Jeff “The
Hornet” Horn in nine one-sided rounds. He has since defended that world
title three times, including a sixth-round demolition over former unified
junior welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan in April 2019. Crawford has
not fought since last December’s ninth-round TKO over Egidijus “Mean
Machine” Kavaliauskas and will enter the ring against Brook coming off a
career-long 11-month layoff. He has won seven straight bouts by knockout
since a one-sided decision over Viktor Postol in a July 2016 junior
welterweight unification bout. Prior to his welterweight world title
campaign, Crawford was the lineal lightweight and undisputed junior
welterweight world champion.
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs), from Sheffield, England, is a former welterweight
world champion who made three successful defenses of the IBF title he won
from Shawn Porter in 2014. His only defeat at welterweight came to Errol
Spence Jr. in May 2017, a competitive fight that ended in the 11th round
after he suffered a broken orbital bone. Since the Spence defeat, “The
Special One” has won three bouts at junior middleweight, including
February’s seventh-round stoppage over Mark DeLuca. Brook has long
campaigned for the Crawford bout, and earlier this year, he ran into
Crawford at the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury II weigh-in.
“You gonna make weight?” Crawford asked Brook.
“You’re running out of opponents,” Brook responded. “I’m here.”
Brook said, “I would just like to say a big thank you to Bob Arum and his
team at Top Rank and to Baz Kandiara and my management team for getting the
fight made. Thank you also to Terence Crawford and his team. It’s a
fantastic fight, a proper fight for the fans to get excited about. I’m sure
it’s one that will have viewers on the edge of their seats, whichever side
of the pond they’re from.
“I’ve been told there are people writing off my chances, questioning my
age, and my ability to make the weight. 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 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.”
Moloney (21-1, 14 KOs), from Melbourne, Australia, won the interim world
title with a knockout over Elton Dharry last November and was subsequently
elevated to world champion. In his first world title defense, June 23 from
the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble, he was upset via unanimous decision at the
hands of Franco (17-1-2, 8 KOs), a native of San Antonio, Texas, who was
previously best known for his action-packed trilogy with Oscar Negrete.
Said Moloney, “I am extremely excited and motivated for my rematch with
Franco. I’m very grateful that Top Rank has given me the opportunity to get
my revenge and reclaim my 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.”
Use the hashtags #CrawfordBrook and #FrancoMoloney2 to join the
conversation on social media. For more information, visit www.toprank.com
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