By Scott Gilfoid: It doesn’t look like Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) is going to budge on the 30 percent purse split offer he’s made to current IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) for a big money fight between them. Khan says that Brook is the B-side in the equation for the fight, and he needs to be happy that he’s getting 30% of the revenue for the fight.
Khan says that if Brook gets stuck on percentages for the fight in wanting a bigger cut, then he’ll miss out on the fight. Khan says that Brook can turn around and fight his IBF challenger Errol Spence Jr. if he’s not happy with the offer from him.
That appears to be something that is not too high on Brook’s To Do list in 2017. Brook and especially his promoter Eddie Hearn do not seem eager to put together a fight against Spence, even though it’s required by the International Boxing Federation for Brook to keep his IBF title.
It would be very surprising if Brook chooses to face Spence, because that’s the equivalent of him touching the third rail in a subway. Spence has the power, size and style to do everything to Brook that Gennady Golovkin just did in their fight last September. Heck, Spence might be able to be able to do a better job of stopping Brook than GGG did, because he won’t waste time head-hunting. He’ll go after Brook’s body and force another stoppage.
Khan said this to Fighthype.com:
“I told him, ‘you’re making 30 percent of the purse. You will still make a big number. You will still make a lot of money,’” said Khan about Brook. “It seems to me, Kell is looking at a percentage. When people look at percentages, they get greedy a bit. I’m telling Kell Brook, be happy with what you’re getting, because I don’t want him to lose the deal by aiming for a higher percentage; the fights going to go dead. If he does with the 30 percent, he’ll still make more money, which I will guarantee, than he made against Triple G. He made five million against Triple G. I know he can make more. It’s going to be 30 percent, and the biggest purse of his career. He’s the IBF champion, but he understands I’m the A-side in this. If he starts crying over 30%, then why should I even do this? His promoter Eddie Hearn needs to talk some sense to him. He can go and fight Errol Spence, who is going to make $1 million dollars in that fight, and he’s going to miss a big fight against me,” said Khan.
Khan is making a lot of sense here. If Brook takes the fight with him at 30 percent, he’ll get the biggest payday of his career. He’ll also be able to avoid looking bad by either fighting Spence and losing or vacating his title to avoid him. It seems like the smart thing for Brook to do would be for him to take the Khan fight. If Brook wins, which would seem very possible, he could then fight the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman.
Of course, Brook’s IBF title would have been long stripped from him by the IBF for him failing to defend the belt against Spence, but I don’t think Brook will be too troubled by that. I think Brook can’t wait to get rid of his IBF title. That’s like a hot potato, because he’s got the dangerous Spence as his mandatory challenger, not the easy challengers that he’s had in the past with Frankie Gavin, Jo Jo Dan and Kevin Bizier.
Yeah, Brook will look like a paper champion if he gives up his IBF title at the first sign of a danger, but I think he’s pretty much playing out his card. Brook isn’t going to do anything at 154 in my view. He gets destroyed by all of those top talents. If Brook stays at 147, he’ll get punched around by Spence unless he avoids him.
Keith Thurman would be a big problem for Brook as well. I’m not sure if Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum will bother matching him against Brook. It looks like Arum is finishing Pacquiao’s career fighting mainly his own fighters from his Top Rank stable. Brook’s running style might be a turn off as well. Pacquiao doesn’t need someone he’s going to have to chase around the ring and pry his hands off of him each time Brook clinches.