By Adam Godfrey: Recently elected London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced his desire to see a British Super-fight between Welterweight rivals Amir Khan and Kell Brook take place in the English Capital, highlighting the revenue that the fight would generate for the city. Khan was speaking at the Boxing Writers’ Club at The Savoy, stating:
‘I want to see the biggest sporting and cultural events staged here in London because we not only have world-class venues to stage top-class boxing, but we also have the globe’s best fight fans’.
Khan v Brook would be a massive event in the UK and would capture the imagination of the British public, and would likely eclipse the interest generated by the Froch v Groves battles. If the fight were to take place in London it seems likely that Wembley stadium would host the event due to its capacity, which far exceeds that of the O2.
Tensions have simmered between the pair for several years, and despite recent social media exchanges suggesting a mutual respect for the other’s recent choice of opponents, the build up to a fight between the Britons promises to be an acrimonious one with genuine tension inevitably flaring during the process. Fight fans are especially receptive to palpable distrust between fighters and this natural clash would be easy to exploit for the promoters of each man.
The likelihood of the fight actually occurring in the near future seems, on the surface, bleak. Brook looked as comfortable at the Middleweight limit as is possible for a career Welterweight skipping two divisions for the first time (never mind the fact that he was facing the consensus Middleweight Champion), whereas Khan looked decidedly less secure at 155lb, albeit against an opponent who utterly dwarfed him on fight night. Khan boxed very well against Canelo Alvarez, but the devastating knockout that came in the 6th round for Alvarez had a sense of inevitability about it that felt different to Brook’s TKO loss to Golovkin. Brook fought toe to toe at times against Golovkin and showed a willingness to engage that Khan was well advised to avoid against Canelo.
It could be concluded, therefore, that weight could be a potential stumbling block if negotiations were to take place soon, especially if Brook feels uncomfortable boiling down towards 147, or Khan conversely feels that meeting Brook between close to the Middleweight limit of 160lb diminishes his chances to too much of an extent. Khan is arguably a relatively small Welterweight, whereas Brook is considered a huge one.
I expect that Brook will henceforth ply his trade at 154lb, and that Khan will wait for Brook to fight a significant name from the Junior Middleweight division and/or win a title in said division before agreeing to the fight. Both fighters should still be at the height of their powers and a fight in two or so years allows for genuine marination to occur. Brook and Khan have both recently walked paths that divert from each other in the short-term, but two years should be long enough to bring them back into each other’s sights and into the public’s collective consciousness.
The location of the fight adds another layer of intrigue. Both fighters hail from the North of England, with Khan representing Bolton, whereas Brook is a Sheffield native. As such, it is difficult to see the fighters agreeing to a neutral venue not in the North of England, as a sizeable section of their respective fan-bases would feel immense disrespect about being forced to travel to the South to watch the fight. Both Brook and Khan can count on fans in the South of the country watching the fight in London, but would be reluctant to alienate those who have followed their entire careers in the North. Old Trafford in Manchester has a capacity of 76000. Wembley stadium, on the other hand, has a capacity of 90000, while the O2 arena can seat 20000. All things considered, I would expect to see Old Trafford be handed priority if the fight can be arranged, but it’ll be interesting to see how this stipulation would unfold.