By Gav Duthie: Recent sources have revealed that Floyd Mayweather Jnr may be looking to the UK for his final fight with Amir Khan and Kell Brook as the front runners. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is often a careful selector of his opponents so just who is the bigger fighter and most logical option between Khan and Brook?
Amir will tell you that Brook hasn’t fought anyone and is just looking for a payday by fighting Amir or Mayweather. Brook will tell you he is the champion and that Khan is running scared and he is the bigger fighter now.
Does Khan need Brook more or vice versa. If Mayweather is considering selecting one of these two for his “final” fight then who should it be. This article looks statistically at who is the bigger name of the Brits with a recommendation for ‘Money’ Mayweather.
Boxing Record
brook 8
Khan 7
Brook 35-0 (24)
Khan 31-3 (19)
Obviously Amir Khan has been fighting at the top level for much longer and as a result is more likely to have lost. Despite that you have to respect a fighter who has fought 35 times and never lost. Brook’s high knockout percentage also gives him an edge as Khan’s power has dropped as he has moved from lightweight-welterweight. If I was looking at it from the point of view of Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao or Mayweather I would rather beat an undefeated fighter like Brook than Amir Khan. There is something special about taking someones 0.
Opposition
Brook 6
Khan 9
Brook top 10
Kevin McIntyre, Michael Jennings, Matthew Hatton, Lovemore N’Dou, Carson Jones, Hector Saldivia, Vyachslav Senchenko, Shawn Porter, Ionut Dan Ion, Frankie Gavin
Khan top 10
Marco Antonio Barrera, Andriy Kotelnik, Marcos Maidana, Paulie Maliggnaggi, Zab Judah, Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Luis Collazo, Devon Alexander, Chris Algieri
When you look at the top 10 opponents faced it doesn’t even compare. I had to Boxrec Brook’s record because I could only think of 8 decent fighters and some of them are only domestic class at best. Putting myself in Khan’s shoes I can understand him asking Brook to step up his level if opposition. There are 4 standard level opponents on there for Brook. Khan has defeated 8/10 of those on his list as I don’t even include Breidis Prescott. All of those top ten of Khan are ex-world champions whereas only Vyacheslav Senchenko and Porter are on Brook’s.
In fairness to Brook he was largely avoided for most of his career and I’m sure he wants the big fights. Now is the time to deliver.
Welterweight reputation
Brook 8
Khan 7
In terms of welterweight reputation it has to go to Brook. All 35 of his fights have been at 147 whilst Khan has only fought his last 3 there. Brook is arguably the strongest welterweight in the division and when he rehydrates he often looks much bigger than his opponent.
UK popularity
Brook 8
Khan 8
This is a tough one to call so I have went for the draw. When on boxing websites and forums it is abundantly clear that boxing fans prefer Brook over Khan. Amir is disliked for his arrogance at times and is rarely fights in the UK anyway. However if you were to ask casual fans many might not know Brook but they would certainly know Amir Khan.
I ask myself the question if Brook or Khan were to fight Mayweather at wembley who would gain more interest? I think both would sell out 80,000 but if it was Khan many might want Mayweather to win. Brook might be a popular fighter but people who watch that want you to lose its all the same just ask Floyd Mayweather Jnr. Whether they like him or not they still pay to watch him.
USA popularity
Brook 5
Khan 7
This isn’t even close. Kell Brook has only fought twice in America whereas most of Khans fights are there these days. It is difficult to assess how important this is for a British fighters career. If you are from fighting countries like Mexico, Puerto Rico or Argentina you need the United States as a base to get big fights and make money. If your from the UK, like Carl Froch for example, you can have a hugely successful career fighting mostly at home both in terms of legacy and financially.
If you want a big fight with an American like Mayweather however then you need to have a name across the pond which Brook doesn’t have. Khan isn’t a huge name stateside either, he thinks he is but his fight against Alexander sold 4,000 tickets and 7,000 for Chris Algieri who was fighting in his hometown. It is very difficult for British fighters to gain popularity in America but Khan is probably as good as it gets.
Champion status
Brook 8
Khan 7
Brook is a current title holder in a very hot division so he edges it. Khan is a two-weight world champion at lightweight (135) and light welterweight (140) but it was back in 2012 when he last held a title. His last 3 fights may have been against ex-world champions but few would consider Luis Collazo, Devon Alexander and Algieri as genuine threats in the welterweight division today. If Mayweather were to face Brook and win he would have held all 4 major welterweight titles within the year.
Money
Brook 6
Khan 9
Life isn’t fair and neither is boxing. Brook and Khan are roughly the same age, Kell has had one more fight but Amir has made much more money out of the sport. Khan recently stated the purse he received for the Algieri fight was more than Brook would have made in his last 5. Khan usually makes between $1.5-2 million per bout and seeing that Brook made $200k against Shawn Porter the estimate is probably correct.
I think in terms of pay-per-view Khan would also bring more numbers and revenue for Mayweather than Brook would. Amir was first linked as a potential Mayweather opponent after he beat Marcos Maidana and Zab Judah back to back in 2010-2011. His subsequent losses to Peterson and Garcia obviously halted that progress but the fight has been brewing whereas Brook has only came into the fold recently.
Overall
Kell Brook 49/70
Amir Khan 54/70
If Brook and Khan were to fight I would pick Brook all the way but at the moment the bigger name and the more obvious choice for Floyd has to be Amir Khan. Styles make fights and I do believe that Amir could cause him problems with his speed. Ultimately though I feel Mayweather would win and he would actually knock Khan out something he hasn’t done for a long time.
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