Khan: If Kell Brook’s not going to fight the big names…

By Boxing News - 08/13/2015 - Comments

brook9By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan dropped a big hint this week by reminding IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook that he was serious as a heart attack when he said he wanted him to out and fight a couple of big names and beat them before he’d agree to fight him next year in a mega-fight in the UK, possibly at Wembley Stadium.

However, it doesn’t look like Brook and his promoter Eddie Hearn are paying Khan any mind when it comes to the opposition that they’re looking to fight. Instead of Brook fighting a name like Tim Bradley and Marcos Maidana, both of which Khan mentioned as guys he Brook to fight, there’s talk that Brook will fight No.10 WBA Diego Chaves instead. I don’t know about you, but I don’t rate Chaves as a big name or even close to being a big name.

Chaves is just a guy who was beaten by Keith Thurman and Brandon Rios, and recently fought to a 12 round draw against Tim Bradley. It was a controversial draw that many boxing fans thought Chaves lost. I don’t know how two defeats and a draw puts Chaves into a world title fight against Brook. Whatever the case, Chaves is not a big name, and it’s obviously not the big name that Khan was looking for from Brook when he told him and his promoter Eddie Hearn that he wanted to see Brook beat two big names before he’ agree to fight him.

“But if Kell Brook’s not going to go out there and fight big names,” Khan said to the MMA Hour. “I just want him to prove himself. If he does go out there and fight the big names like Maidana, Bradley, Pacquiao and he gets beat, it’s only going to make the fight smaller. So let’s just give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s a good fighter.”

Khan needs to stay on topic. He seems to drift from his original thought. What he seems to be saying is if Brook doesn’t fight the big names, then it means no fight with him. Of course, if Brook fights those big names – Maidana, Bradley, Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman – and loses to them, then he won’t get the fight.

So in other words, Khan is looking to make sure that Brook earns the fight against him on achievement rather than him backing into the fight by taking off soft jobs like Frankie Gavin, Jo Jo Dan, Vyacheslav Senchenko, and Diego Chaves. Khan wants the fight with Brook to be a big one globally, not just locally in the UK.

There’s no way that a Khan-Brook fight will be a big deal outside of the UK because Brook isn’t beating the right guys, and neither is Khan for that matter. But despite the fight that Brook is the world champion by virtue of him holding down the IBF 147lb strap, Khan is the A-side fighter between the two.

That means he can tell Brook that if he wants a fight against him, then he’s going to need to stop fighting the scrubs and start fighting the actual talented fighters. That means that Brook needs to fight someone like Errol Spence Jr., Porter, Thurman, Bradley and Maidana. If Brook refuses to fight those guys or if his promoter Hearn refuse to make those fights, then Khan should just forget all about fighting him forever and focus his career on fighting the guys that are willing to take on the best.

“I just made a statement in the UK that I’d like to fight Kell Brook. Hopefully, that fight can be made next year in the summer at a stadium, maybe Wembley Stadium,” Khan said “Not this year, but next summer, when it’ll be even bigger. The fight could be massive globally.”

Let’s be real here; the Khan-Brook fight won’t be a big deal globally because neither of these guys are fighting the right opponents. If Khan does fight Manny Pacquiao and beats him, then that will help build Khan’s name in the United States in a big way. But we don’t know that Khan will get the Pacquiao fight, and even if he does get that fight, I doubt that he’ll win it. But it is nice that Khan at least willing to face Pacquiao.

With Brook, it’s really worrisome with the way he’s being matched. I don’t have any faith in him facing anyone good, because he’s been matched so poorly his entire 11-year pro career and it doesn’t look like anything is changing in that regard.

I don’t know why, but Hearn just does not seem eager to put Brook in with anyone good. I mean, we’re seeing the same thing with the way Hearn is matching his other fighters like Martin Murray, Anthony Joshua and Callum Smith. All of them have been facing fodder opposition. I don’t think it’s going to change at all.



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