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By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) says his decision about wanting to fight IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) came after watching him fight IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) recently. Khan watched the Golovkin-Brook fight and decided he wanted to face the 30-year-old Brook.

Khan doesn’t say what precisely about the fight that made him want to face Brook, but it’s likely that he saw how he fell apart under the pressure of GGG, and wasn’t able or willing to stand and fight the way he needed to for him to have a chance of victory.

Whatever slim possibility that Brook had in beating Triple G went out the window the moment that he decided to get on his bike and pedal away at high speeds from the hard hitting middleweight champion starting from the 1st round.

Khan’s interest in facing Brook now is possibly best thing that could have ever happened to him, because he’s been ordered to defend his IBF title against the wrecking machine Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs), and that is a fight that could have a similar outcome as Brook’s 5th round TKO loss to Golovkin three months ago on September 10 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Khan said this to BBC’s World Service about his sudden desire to fight Kell Brook after watching his perform against Golovkin:

“(Brook is) a fight that I would love to have,” said Khan. “I have changed my mind because of the Triple G (Golovkin) fight. Kell was smart taking that fight. He knew he was going to get beat but he still took it because he knew he was going to get paid well and make a name for himself.”

If Khan beats Brook, it might be all over for him, especially if his surgically repaired eye falls apart during the fight. I don’t know where Brook would go from there. I mean, if Brook can’t even beat Khan, then what kind of future is he going to have at 147? Heck, what kind of future would Brook have if he were forced to move up to 154 and face talents like Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Julian “J-Rock” Williams and Erislandy Lara?

Yeah, Brook sure did make a name for himself in getting taken out in five rounds by Golovkin. Brook’s trainer Dominic Ingle threw in the towel as soon as Golovkin caught up with him in the 5th round and started to give him the business against the ropes.

The way that Ingle threw in the towel right when Brook was trapped against the ropes for the first time in the fight, it rubbed a lot of boxing fans the wrong way. They felt that Ingle should have let Brook try and at least fight his way of the situation rather than throwing the towel in to have the fight stopped.

Even Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn’t agree with the stoppage. He didn’t like it. Of course, Mayweather Jr. didn’t like it, because he’s a winner, and he’s someone that thinks his way through situations. Mayweather had been hurt in the past in some of his fights, and he didn’t have a trainer tossing in the towel at first signs of trouble.

Mayweather would calmly clinch his way out of the situation to clear his head. It just makes you wonder if the boxing fans are going to see more towel throwing from Ingle in Brook’s future fights. Perhaps that’s why Khan is so eager to get Brook inside the ring now. This is the perfect time for Khan to fight Brook with him coming off of TKO loss to Golovkin.

Further, Brook suffered a bad eye injury to his right eye, which required surgery to repair. Coming off eye surgery, Brook might not be the most confident fighter in the world. What if Brook’s eye swells up once Khan starts hitting him with power shots? What happens then? Does Ingle throw the towel in once again to keep Brook from getting worked over? I’m just saying.

If Brook’s surgically repaired eye closes up in the early rounds from Khan’s power shots, does Ingle let the fight continue with Brook fighting with just one eye? It might not even be Ingle’s call. The referee might stop the action and march Brook over to the ringside doctor, who would then make the decision whether to let him continue fighting with one eye or not. I doubt that the doctor would let Brook continue if he can’t see out of his previously damaged eye. Golovkin broke Brook’s right eye socket with a big left hook early in their fight. There won’t be a tune-up for Brook to test his eye to see if it will hold together.

Brook still hasn’t vacated his IBF welterweight title. There’s a scheduled purse bid for Brook’s fight against Spence set for February 26. That’s obviously a long ways off. It’s going to be interesting to see if Brook and his promoter Eddie Hearn bail on the purse bid.

If they can get the Khan fight done, then obviously they’ll have to cancel the purse bid. The International Boxing Federation isn’t going to let Brook put Spence on hold for the next five to six months while he faces Khan in another voluntary defense. I’d be willing to bet that Hearn will at least try and persuade the IBF to let Brook keep his IBF title while steering around Spence to fight Khan, but I think the IBF is going to do the right thing by stripping him of his strap if he doesn’t vacate his 147lb title.

Spence is a very important fighter for the future of boxing. He’s someone that is going to be around for a long, long time, as he’s viewed by many as the next Mayweather. The IBF is better off having Spence fight for their title now rather than having Brook steer around him to fight guys like Khan, Frankie Gavin and whoever else Hearn wants to match Brook against.