By Gav Duthie: There may be other fighters more deserving of a title shot but new IBF champion Kell Brook 33-0 (22) would be mad not to fight Amir Khan 29-3 (19) for his first defense. Before Saturday’s fight had Brook lost he would have been nowhere but now his opportunities are endless. The main two reasons for a fight with Khan is:
1. The payday which would be considerable (compared to other fights)
2. The chance to take Khan’s place in the queue for a Mayweather fight.
American fans will rightly state that Devon Alexander, Keith Thurman and Tim Bradley are more deserving but its a simple case of financial mathematics. It is also the best fight for Amir Khan, Matchroom and Golden Boy promotions and to an extent even Floyd Mayweather.
Payday
Apparently Brook made $200k (£130k) on Saturday which in my opinion is pathetic. As champion if he next fought in the United States versus Thurman, Alexander or Bradley he would probably get closer to $500k (£320k) (Porter’s purse) which is still a drop in the ocean compared to a potential fight at Wembley against Khan. Fans from the states probably don’t realize the rivalry between these two. Although they have never fought there has been a cold war for years with a mutual level of jealousy. Being a Brit I have no doubt this fight would sell out Wembley at around 60,000 fans like when Froch fought Groves.
Froch v Groves (85/15) % split.
Froch £8-8.5 million ($12.8 million)
Groves £1.5-2 million ($2.4 million)
I would estimate that again the purse for this fight would be around £10 million. Being that this would be a voluntary defense there wouldn’t be the standard 85/15 split. It is highly probable that the purse would be split straight down the middle equating to around £5 million each. Why would either fighter risk a fight against anyone else when they can make up to 10 times the amount to fight each other. Even Amir Khan who has a bigger reputation than Brook has allegedly only topped $1.5 million for his highest payday when he beat Collazo.
IBF obstacle
Ratings
1. Ionut Dan ion
2. Leonard Bundu
3. Tim Bradley
4. Frankie Gavin
5. Devon Alexander
A potential stumbling block to any big fight is often the mandatory opponent. The top 5 is shown above but even when you go down to the top 15 neither Amir Khan, Keith Thurman nor Juan Manuel Marquez are on there. Any fight with Amir Khan would be a voluntary defence and would need to be sanctioned by the IBF. It is quite likely they would approve as there would be a high sanctioning fee.
Promoters
The Kell Brook victory was a big night for the promoters as well as ‘The Special One’. This is Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn’s ticket into the U.S and also helps Golden Boy crack the UK. Golden Boy already has Brits Amir Khan and Anthony Agogo on their books but have yet to put on a solid money making card in Britain. With the Golden Boy-Top Rank cold war still not reached a conclusion it is refreshing to think that Kell Brook could potentially fight anyone from across the two companies.
Floyd Mayweather Jr
I think Mayweather has been trying to re-create the atmosphere and earning potential provided by Ricky Hatton when they fought a few years ago. To do this he has always kept Amir Khan on the fringes as a potential opponent. What Floyd may or may not realize is that Brook is actually a much more popular fighter than Khan in the UK. If a fight between the two Brits is as big as it could be it adds much more PPV numbers to a showdown between Mayweather and Brook/Khan. If Khan wins then he brings an IBF title to the Mayweather table and if Brook wins he would be an undefeated welterweight star for Mayweather to top. We know that Floyd will fight next May so if Khan and Brook can get it on for December/January then the timeline is perfect.
Whatever happens this is a fantastic time for British boxing and to have two sellout bouts in Wembley in one year would be absolutely incredible. Good luck to Eddie Hearn in making it happen.
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