Terence Crawford vs. Kell Brook: Bleacher Report Staff Predictions

Terence Crawford is one of the best fighters in the world. 

When he's not talking to Bleacher Report about tracking down the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Conor McGregor and Errol Spence someday soon, Crawford can usually be found offering sound beatdowns to the opponents he has already been able to land fights against. 

Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) defends his WBO welterweight championship against former IBF titleholder Kell Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) on Saturday. 

Crawford vs. Brook takes place live at The Bubble at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's the main event of a Top Rank on ESPN boxing card that will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

But before these two welterweight stars begin trading leather in the center of the ring on fight night, Bleacher Report's boxing crew decided to get together so we could trade our ideas about how this fight plays out.

Kelsey McCarson: Terence Crawford Wins

Michael Owens/Associated Press

McCarson thinks Crawford will retain his title.

Crawford is a big favorite on the boxing betting market, and he should be. 

The 33-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska, is one of the few fighters in boxing who have a legitimate case to be ranked No. 1 on the various pound-for-pound lists out there that are generally accepted among the boxing public as reflections of how the community sees things. 

Crawford is a three-division world champ, but he's even a cut above that given he was the lineal champ at 135 pounds, the undisputed champ at 140 and now has a belt at 147 pounds.

Being a lineal champion is probably the biggest measure of any fighter. It's a concept that was created by fans for fans so they could truly know which of the many so-called world champions in boxing are the legit bosses of their divisions. 

Being undisputed at any weight is a rare feat. That's especially become true during boxing's four-belt era—so over the last two decades or so. Winning all four major sanctioning body belts takes a special kind of fighter, one who is talented enough and relentless enough to accept all comers. 

On top of that, it takes a little bit of luck to be in a division where the other champs want to fight, too. 

Despite the narrative changing a little on Crawford during the past few years over the difficulties he's encountered in getting some of the other best fighters in this third weight class he's entered to face him inside a boxing ring, he is a legit special talent and probable future Hall of Famer.

Brook, 34, from England, is a former titleholder at 147 pounds. He enters his big fight against Crawford having won three straight since suffering the only two defeats of his career, first to then 160-pound champ Gennady Golovkin in a foolhardy attempt to snag a world championship two weight classes above him, then to current unified welterweight champ Errol Spence when Brook had the audacity to take on one of boxing's best fighters in his very next fight. 

All that is to say Brook is a legit welterweight contender. He even has a win on his record against former titleholder Shawn Porter to prove it. 

But while Brook could outbox Porter back then, he'll be in much deeper waters against Crawford. Crawford is the better boxer. He can outwork, outthink and outpunch just about anyone who stands in front of him.

The only real question I have is how the fight ends. Crawford enters his next fight having stopped seven straight opponents. Brook will probably make him work for it, but the American boxing savant will ultimately get the job done late in the fight. 

Crawford, TKO, Rd. 11

Jonathan Snowden: Terence Crawford Wins

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

Snowden also picks Crawford to win the fight.

Most of the discussion going into this fight has centered around Crawford. More specifically, thanks to Vasyl Lomachenko's recent loss, the boxing world is busy weighing his accomplishments to determine whether he's the best fighter in the sport.   

As you might expect, the fighter himself is quite confident that he belongs at the top of the heap.

"I feel it in my heart, and I believe it to the fullest," Crawford told Andre Ward in an interview for ESPN. "That I am the best fighter in the world today. I'm so natural and God-gifted with all my abilities and tools, that I have what other fighters don't have. I have the heart, I have the skills, I have the speed, I have the power, I have the toughness. I can switch. I can fight inside, outside, going backwards, going forwards. I can counter punch you. There's no fighter in the game today who has shown what I've shown."

With two losses on his ledger, no one is making a similar case for opponent Kell Brook. But the Brit (39-2) is a real fighter, not a tomato can imported to give Crawford an easy touch. 

He dared to be great against Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence and fell short. Team Crawford is no doubt hoping those experiences, particularly the broken orbital bones around both eyes, will make Brook gun shy and scared of being hurt again. 

But what if the beatings only serve to provide just the right amount of weathering to make him a particularly chewy morsel for Crawford to try to digest?

Brook is the bigger man and, as shocking as this sounds for someone with his reputation, arguably one of the most accomplished fighters Crawford has ever been in the ring with. He was giving Spence, widely considered the other great fighter in the weight class, a good fight before his face was broken in the seventh round. 

I expect the same thing here—with Crawford re-establishing his place in the pecking order and returning Brook to the much larger pack of fighters who are merely very good and not quite great. 

Crawford via unanimous decision

Fitzsimmons: Terence Crawford Wins

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Fitzsimmons is a huge fan of Brook but won't pick him to upset Crawford.

I am a Kell Brook fan. I don't apologize for it.

I cheered the night he beat Shawn Porter to win a welterweight strap. I admired him for stepping up to challenge then-reigning middleweight boogeyman Gennady Golovkin. And I thought only a fighter on his level could prove just how good Errol Spence Jr. would be at 147.

He can box. He can punch. And, even more importantly, he's a tough dude.

So when Saturday comes and the bell rings for his fight with Terence Crawford, I'll be rooting.

Not so much to see Crawford lose, but to hope Brook comes with his fully healthy A-game and provides "Bud" with the sort of push he's not often found since taking over the division.

Of course, even if all those things happen, it still might not end well.

Because Crawford is just that good, too.

Though he's spent his days at 147 drifting from flotsam to jetsam thanks to the sport's relentless promotional silliness, he possesses the sort of skill set reserved for the truly elite.

He analyzes an opponent, sees where the competitive strengths lie, then takes them away while changing stances in the ring with less effort than fans change positions on the couch.

He's won each of his 14 title bouts across three weight classes, stopping all but three of his foes—including the last seven in an average of just more than eight rounds apiece.

On his best and healthiest day, Brook never did that.

And at age 34, with that best day now four or more years behind him, he probably won't.

Which means, even though I'll be pining for "Special K" to wake up the echoes, it's far more likely I wind up the night celebrating the champion's virtuosity while hoping Brook avoids an operating room.

Call it a gradual beatdown, but a beatdown just the same.

Crawford, KO, Rd. 10