In an interview with Fight Hype Eddie Hearn, promoter for IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, said that once their mandatory against Jo Jo Dan is complete, they would be looking for a big name in the summer. The names that he chose to mention were Juan Manuel Marquez, Marcos Maidana and the winner of the upcoming Thurman vs Guerrero match up.
Any of these fighters would be a fantastic match up for the 28 year old Brook, and each would most likely be viewed as his toughest test to date. Juan Manuel Marquez has been looking for a title at . Marquez was the third Mexican born boxer to become a four division champion and a win over Brook would make him the first five division champion. His only other options to pick up titles in that weight division would be rematches with Mayweather and Pacquiao so Brook has to be seen as the best route for him.
Marcos Maidana, although coming off back to back losses has to be viewed as one of the top few brawlers in the sport today. His aggressive opening to the first Mayweather bout was impressive enough to warrant a rematch between the two, something which has only ever happened once before in Mayweathers career. This would have to be seen as a tough fight for Brook as his come forward style is something that seemed to bother Brook a little when Shawn Porter used similar tactics in his last bout. Maidana also has a huge punch, as seen from his 31 knockouts in 35 wins. The quantity and power of these punches could give Brook problems.
The last proposed bout was the winner of the Guerrero and Thurman fight. In my humble opinion this will be Thurman and because of this I view this fight as being the least likely of the three. Whilst I do not think Hearn or Brook are the type to ‘duck’ anyone, it makes more sense to pair themselves up with better known names in Marquez and Maidana seeing as those would also be likely easier fights for Brook. Thurman, like Gennady Golovkin and Guillermo Rigondeaux is viewed as a high risk, low reward fight due to his undefeated record and tendency to hurt and knockout his opponents.
If Hearn is correct in his assumption to be able to make one of these fights for the summer of 2015 then fight fans are in for a treat, that is if Brook can get past his underdog status mandatory fighter Jo Jo Dan (34-2-0 18KO) at the end of March.
