By: Hans Themistode

Terence Crawford has always been an active champion. Yet, with a worldwide pandemic ravishing through most of the world, the Nebraska native was forced to sit on the sidelines until things became more clear.

Now, after spending 11 months on the shelf, the consensus number one fighter in the world will return to the ring to defend his WBO welterweight title as he takes on Kell Brook at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Brook, a former welterweight champion in his own right, has spent the better part of a year begging to face Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) in the ring. The 34-year-old will now get his wish when the two face off in the main event.

At one point, Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) was considered amongst the very best in the welterweight division. The British native crossed the pond in 2014 to hand then champion Shawn Porter the first loss of his career while ripping away his title. Back to back losses at the hands of Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. however, saw Brook’s title reign truncated and his stay at welterweight vacated.

In his past three fights, Brook has campaigned at the Jr middleweight division but seemingly had little trouble in making the 147 pound limit for his showdown with Crawford. The reviews coming from his camp and from multiple time champion Billy Joe Saunders, is that Brook is coming into this contest in the best shape of his life. Regardless of that, oddsmakers aren’t buying it as they’ve tabbed Brook as high as a 20-1 underdog.

For Crawford, the 33-year-old isn’t looking at his upcoming showdown in the same fashion as the betting public. The former three division titlist has given Brook all of the respect in the world during most of their build up. With that being said, he might be expecting an arduous time on the night but like most of the public, Crawford is also expecting his hand to be raised at the end of the night.

The action begins at 7 P.M. eastern time on ESPN.

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