By Robbie Bannatyne: After spending the majority of his professional boxing life inside the tent with the elite looking out, Amir Khan’s career is now closer to the portable toilets than the big boys tent.
In refusing to leave the lull of his delusion that it was his divine right to fight Floyd Mayweather Jnr or Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan frittered away three years of his prime facing, what were in essence, tune-up type opponents.
After being jilted at the alter so many times by the sport’s two biggest stars, you would think Khan would be dying to walk down the aisle for a money spinning world title fight. Yet despite a multi-million pound carrot being dangled in his face by Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn and IBF world champion- and fellow Brit- Kell Brook, Amir Khan seems to be stubbornly refusing to take the bait. It’s akin to a street dog denying a lifetimes supply of juicy steak dinners.
Throughout his fruitless pursuit of Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao, many boxing insiders insisted that Amir Khan was only interested in chasing the biggest pay days so that he could feather his nest in preparation for his retirement from prizefighting. But Amir Khan seems to have ear plugs onto the deafening sound of money talking as far as Kell Brook is concerned.
Every man and his dog knows that a domestic dust up with Brook at Wembley Stadium on June 4th is undoubtedly the best financial option on the table for Team Khan. But instead of biting off Eddie Hearn’s hand for the offer of a 60-40 split in his favour, Khan is still the bus that will just not stop for Kell Brook.
Khan seems to have a sneering contempt for the Sheffield stars talent and has stated numerous times that he is levels above his bitter rival. Yet In spite of Khan’s talk, he seems curiously unwilling to walk the walk with Kell Brook. Many prominent figures in British boxing, such as Jonny Nelson of Sky Sports, have speculated that the reason for Khan’s seeming refusal to face Brook is because he is afraid to lose to his fellow Brit. Not so much fear of Kell Brook the man as trepidation about what defeat to him would mean for the rest of his career.
Of course, it would put the buffers on his progress if Khan were to have his lights punched out by Brook. But his career would not crash and burn. Khan, despite his relative inactivity and lack of major fights in recent years, is still one of boxings most notable fighters, and thus would bring big money to the table for any other welterweight in his ‘advisor’ Al Haymon’s stable. The likes of Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, and even Adrien Broner would probably still be attracted by the allure of an Amir Khan contest whether he won or lost against Kell Brook.
In the predictably unpredictable world of prizefighting, expect the plot to thicken in the curious tale of Amir Khan in the coming months. Lets hope the full stop is a fight with Kell Brook.
Fight Fans: I look forward to reading your thoughts on the Amir Khan vs Kell Brook saga
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