Brook wants Thurman fight

Kell Brook hopes to fight new WBA-WBC world welterweight champion Keith Thurman later this year. Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) defended his WBA belt and gained Danny Garcia's (33-1, 19 KOs) WBC title with a split points decision win over his fellow American on Saturday night.

Briton Brook, the IBF champion, and Filipino Manny Pacquiao, the WBO king, are the other world welterweight title holders in one of boxing's most competitive divisions. And Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) says he hopes a fight against Thurman can be made for later in the year, providing he successfully defends his IBF belt against American Errol Spence next.

"Garcia and Thurman are both very good champions and it was very hard to split them but I thought Thurman would win the fight because Garcia had not faced a true welterweight before," Brook told from his training camp in Fuerteventura.

"Thurman is a big welterweight who has competed at that weight his whole career. I would definitely like to fight Thurman because I want to unify the division before I move up. I think that would be a very explosive fight, me and Keith Thurman.

"I spoke to him back stage before I fought Shawn Porter [in 2014] and he said 'You're the boy from England, I'm looking forward to seeing you fight.' And I said the same to him because he stands out from all the rest of the welterweights for me."

Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn is in talks to hold his mandatory defence against Spence at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane on May 27 after once again being left disappointed about the breakdown of talks to face British rival Amir Khan.

For the second successive year, Brook and Khan failed to agree terms on a bout. Khan is now in talks to challenge Pacquiao, 38, in the United Arab Emirates on May 20. Brook admits his hopes of ever fighting Khan are now slim and has switched targets to Spence, and then possibly Thurman.

"I don't know about fighting Amir Khan and I don't really care any more," Brook told. "I'm not stopping anything on my side from happening and I've been willing to bend on matters like the purse split. If everything was transparent every boxing fan in the world would be behind me on this matter. But I've got Errol Spence on my mind right now but there's Keith Thurman and there are other big fights out there for me other than Khan. If my career does end and Khan isn't on my record I will be able to rest in peace knowing that I've tried everything I could to give the fans the fight they wanted to see."

Brook believes Khan, who was knocked cold by Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez last May, will be stopped by eight-weight world champion Pacquiao.

"I still believe Manny Pacquiao will stop Khan," Brook told. "He's getting on a bit Manny but he's still good enough and there's enough energy in his legs and he will still beat Khan."

For Brook to set up a clash at Thurman, he must beat the highly-rate Spence, an unbeaten American who has stopped 18 of his 21 victims. Brook has not fought since stepping up two weight divisions to take on the world's No 1 middleweight Gennady Golovkin, who stopped the Sheffield boxer in five rounds for his first defeat in September.

"I don't believe he's fought anyone on my level yet and I'm looking forward to taking care of him in my own back yard. I believe we'll both bring the best out of each other," Brook told. "They think he's going to be the next big star of American boxing but he's fighting me who's a world champion who has belief that no man can beat him. It's a massive step up for him. People around me advised me to move up but I'm a stubborn man. It took me a long time to win that world title belt and I'm not going to just give it up. It's going to be a struggle to get down to welterweight limit and I will find it hard but I'm too stubborn just to give it up and there are some big fights out there at welterweight."