Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook: Is this a cash-out fight?

By Boxing News - 01/17/2021 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Fans could finally get a chance to see the long-awaited match between Amir Khan and Kell Brook in 2021 in what many feel is a ‘cash-out’ between the two aging 34-year-old former world champions.

Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) and Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) have arguably overstayed their usefulness, and they’ve run out of chances for well-paying fights against top fighters at 147 and 154.

Khan is viewed as why the match with Brook never happened when the two were still in their prime in 2012 and earlier, as he didn’t want to give him a fight.

Some feel that Khan was afraid of being exposed by Brook and then have to deal with him gloating about it for years afterward. Whatever Khan’s reasons for not facing Brook when the two were at their best, it hurt him in the pocketbook.

Eddie Hearn pointed out recently that when the Khan – Brook fight was worth massive money, Amir wasn’t interested.

Now that it’s worth a fraction of that, Khan finally has decided to take it. Hearn says he’s still interested in making the fight, and he’s asked Khan to contact him so they can move forward. We’ll see if Khan is serious about making the fight or if he’s just talking.

Khan vs. Brook not worth as much as it once was

“Of course, but I’m not going to get excited about it until the announcement is there, and they both start their press conference,” said Coldwell to iFL TV when asked if he’ll watch the Khan vs. Brook fight.

Image: Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook: Is this a cash-out fight?

“Probably on fight week, I probably won’t get excited about it in the first press conference announcing it, but or virtual press conference. But I want it done before I talk about it and who is going to win and all that kind of s***.

It’s been talked to death for years. You’re not talking about a couple of times. You’re talking years. Will it happen? I don’t know.

“Eddie [Hearn] has talked about it before, and other promoters have talked about it before, no doubt, but it’s never happened. So they both said, ‘I want it.

“I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do that.’ They’ve both said it over the years, and it never happened. Eddie makes a very good point; when the fight was worth s***loads, the fight never happened. The [Khan vs. Brook] fight is worth nowhere near that now,” said Coldwell.

Years ago, Hearn pushed hard to make the Khan vs. Brook fight, but he had no success in persuading Khan to take the fight. Even though the fight would have made Khan more money than the guys he was fighting, he didn’t want to do it.

Brook’s recent fourth-round knockout loss to Terence Crawford last November might have something to do with Khan changing his tune and deciding to take the fight.

Is Khan vs. Brook a cash-out?

“Are they going to take it now because they both have got plenty of money,” Coldwell said of Khan and Brook.

Image: Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook: Is this a cash-out fight?

“It’s not like, ‘I need to cash-out. Even though it’s not worth anywhere near the money it used to be worth, I’ll still take it because I need it.’

“They’ve [Khan and Brook] both done well out of boxing. They both have plenty of money. So I don’t know. I still don’t think it’ll happen.

“I’ll believe it when we’re there. You could say the Crawford fight was a cash-out fight for Kell, and with Amir the last time out [against Billy Dib in 2019], that was a cash-out fight.

“I can’t remember when his last fight was. Maybe it was a cash-out fight, but ultimately those that think it’s insulting because now you’re making it as a cash-out, they won’t pay for it, they won’t buy it. But the others who just want to see who wins, they will,” Coldwell said of Khan vs. Brook.

There’s no other way of looking at the Amir vs. Kell fight than to view it as a cash-out on both of their parts, but especially Khan. He’s the one that has suddenly started to talk about wanting to make this fight.

Brook has always wanted the fight, so you can’t say he’s just looking for a payday, but obviously, he’s not going to turn it down. One gets the sense that Brook is more willing to stick around boxing longer than Khan.

Kell’s punch resistance was nowhere with him getting hurt by a weak shot from Crawford in the fourth and then turning his back on him in an amateurish way when he started to unload.

It looked similar to how Kubat Pulev turned his back to Anthony Joshua when he was hurt in their fight last December.

Khan – Brook outcome won’t prove anything

“But I will say if the fight happens, whoever wins now, it doesn’t mean they were the better man when they were at their best,” said Coldwell in expressing the obvious about the long-awaited Brook vs. Khan clash.

Image: Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook: Is this a cash-out fight?

“Whichever way it goes, it doesn’t mean it because we will never know who would have won that fight at their best. We all have our opinions, but we’ll never know because it never happened.

“This is a problem with boxing with fights that never happen. Ricky Hatton and Junior Witter, and obviously Kell and Amir,” said Coldwell in bringing up examples of compelling fights that never happened because of one of the fighters [Hatton and Khan] not wanting the matches.

“There have been other fights. Yeah, Calzaghe – Froch. Yeah, everyone has got opinions, but we’ll never know because it never happened. And it’s a bit sad there, and that’s why I think sometimes when you talk about, ‘Let’s wait, let’s wait, let’s wait,’ don’t wait, get the fight done.

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“If he’s a good fighter, he can always do it again there. He can always do it again. You know, let the second fight marinate and build.

“So whoever wins [between Khan and Brook], it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just like, ‘who has got what left,'” said Coldwell on Amir vs. Kell.

It goes without saying that the outcome of the Khan vs. Brook fight will have no bearing on what would have happened if the two had fought a decade ago.

Both guys are shot to pieces, and the only thing the fight will tell us is which of the two is slightly less shot.

With Brook, his power is still so good that he’ll likely stop Khan right away before he gets a chance to rev up his own offense. Brook isn’t the fighter he once was, but his power is still roughly 100% of what he had in his prime.