With Kell Brook set to defend his IBF welterweight title in Sheffield, England, this afternoon, much of the discussion during fight week has in fact centered on what Brook would do once he was done with his mandatory defense against Kevin Bizier, a clear underdog few if any expect to challenge Brook, let alone beat him.
Brook told Fighthub this week that he'd love to have a unification fight, and that he's willing to travel for it, as well.
"The Danny Garcia fight, I really like that fight. WBC belt looks really well, I like that one. You've got Jessie Vargas, who just won a world title. We forget about him, but a unification fight, those are the ones who really excite us all," Brook said.
"Of course I'm willing to go back to America. America is the big thing in boxing. America is the place. So I'm willing to travel to get the big fights."
The bigger name out there, though, literally and figuratively, is Gennady Golovkin. Brook says he's dead serious about that fight.
"People don't believe me. People think I avoid fighters," he said. "It shows you what cojones I've got. I wanna fight Golovkin. Sugar Ray Leonard went up there and boxed Hagler, and Mayweather started at super featherweight and has boxed big guys, small guys. If you've got the skills to pay the bills, you can fight. I'm not scared of any fighter out there."
If he could beat Golovkin, Brook says he'd have everything he works for: "I'd be the best. I'd be number one. That's all I wanna do. I want to leave a legacy, I want to become number one pound-for-pound in this game.
Promoter Eddie Hearn also says that Brook (35-0, 24 KO) is serious about the fight, though it would have to be at a catchweight.
"What happened was, when Kell Brook -- when we got the news about Canelo, Tom Loeffler said to me, 'I can't believe Khan's fighting Canelo.' And I went and spoke to Kell straight after, he said, 'Listen, you know what to do, get me the big fights.' He reeled off six or seven names, and Golovkin was one of them," Hearn told Fighthub.
"So I just said to Tom Loeffler, 'Look, you know Kell would fight Golovkin at 156, 157 pounds.' And he was, like, 'Oh, I don't know if we'd come below 160.' And I said, 'Well, I'm just telling you. I mean it. He will do it.' I think they've got plans to stay at 160, but Kell would fight him."
Hearn also says that HBO approached them about fighting Miguel Cotto in June, but he doesn't expect Cotto would want that fight.
"HBO came on to us and said, 'Would you fight Miguel Cotto on (June 18)?' We said, in a heartbeat. They said, 'OK, we'll speak to Roc Nation, Miguel Cotto, and Freddie Roach.' Miguel Cotto and Freddie Roach would look at Kell Brook and go, 'No thanks.' You know what I mean? Listen, if Kell Brook was a global superstar and there was tens of millions in that fight, I think they'd probably fight him. But they look at Kell Brook, and go, 'Whoa, I think we'll have an easier fight, thank you very much.' That's what we're up against.'"
Finding the right fight at 147 may prove difficult, even with Brook holding a world title, and Hearn says that the team will consider moving up in weight if they must, to find that big fight.
"We don't really want to move to 154, but we will do if we can't get the fight we want at 147," he said. "But we feel like, we have a belt. That's why we could be attractive. Kell's ability means that no one's gonna want to fight him. And when they see what he does on Saturday night, I know it's Kevin Bizier, but again -- people say, 'Well, it was Jo Jo Dan,' but look at what (Kell) did to Jo Jo Dan. And Frankie Gavin, the same. 'Oh, Frankie Gavin, he's a top, top amateur, he's gonna frustrate' -- no disrespect to Frankie, but Kell just went through the gears. He's that good.
"When you've got a fighter that good, it's like having a race horse. You've got a race horse that can win the Derby, or win these great events, you want to get him in the Derby, don't you? You don't just want to keep him running in these races where there's half a stadium. You want to stick him in the Derby, get him up on that podium, and show everyone he's the real deal. That's what we want to do with Kell Brook. Easier said than done, but I feel like if there's anyone can do it, it's us."