KELL FAN FEAR

Brook faces blackout

KELL BROOK will head into one of the biggest fights of his career when he takes on Terence Crawford on November 14.

But British boxing fans may not get the chance to watch the Sheffield star as UK broadcasters hesitate about picking up the fight – which as yet has no venue.

The problem seems to stem from Brook negotiating the deal to face the WBO welterweight champion directly with the American fighter’s promoters Top Rank.

Brook is not under contract with any UK promoter but has been working with Matchroom and Eddie Hearn for the last nine years exclusively.

But Hearn had no involvement in making the clash with Crawford and that means Sky Sports, who the Matchroom chief has a contract with, are also cold on the fight at the moment.

Brook and his father, Terry, negotiated directly with Top Rank after opening talks earlier this year. They built a relationship with Bob Arum’s US outfit when Brook travelled to New York to watch British rival Amir Khan take on Crawford in April 2019.

Brook made it clear to Crawford and Arum on that trip that he wanted a shot at the American’s WBO title.

And as lockdown restrictions eased, Arum got in touch.

Hearn was involved in these talks but Top Rank went directly to Brook a few months ago to discuss Crawford.

The deal has been finalised over the last few weeks and now it is all but agreed but there is no UK TV deal at the moment.

Sky Sports have broadcast

CAN’T- SEE CLASH: Kell Brook has no UK TV deal for his Terence Crawford ( inset) fight

Brook’s last 18 fights including his win over Shawn Porter in America back in 2014 when he became IBF champion.

But they currently have no interest in picking up the Crawford fight because of the cost and their own busy schedule.

Hearn is not pushing the broadcaster to secure the bout either as he has a bulging diary in November and December which already includes three pay- per- view cards.

That has angered Brook who may be left to see if BT Sport look to broadcast the bout but they may opt out due to his link to Sky and the cost for a clash that would be staged in the early hours UK time.

The Special One, meanwhile, is still on the hunt for a new trainer but has not ruled out working with long- time coach Dom Ingle for the fight with the three- weight world champion.