By William Lloyd: Amir Khan posted on Instagram on Friday saying that he’s training with WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in Nebraska. Crawford can give Khan tips on beating Kell Brook, who stopped in the fourth round in his last fight in November 2020.
(photo credit: Terence Crawford Instagram)
Former IBF welterweight champion Brook is the guy that Khan called out this week, challenging him to accept the fight so they can meet later this year.
Khan, 34, was knocked out by Crawford in the sixth round in April 2019, but he’s not holding a grudge about it. Instead, Khan wants to learn from Crawford to keep improving his game.
It’ll be interesting to see if Crawford can make adjustments to Khan’s game to take his career to the next level. It could be the beginning of a coaching career for Crawford.
The former IBF/WBA 140-lb champion Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) says he wants to fight Kell Brook next, and he’s waiting for him to agree to it. Khan could do better than Brook if he were to call out unbeaten Conor Benn, who is popular right now.
With the huge fan interest in Benn (18-0, 12 KOs), he and Khan could sell out a stadium. Benn, 24, has already called out Khan several times, saying he wants to battle him for the fans.
In the meantime, Khan is learning from Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) and his trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre on how to beat Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) or any other top fighter that he takes on for his next fight in October or November.
If Crawford and BoMac can get Khan to fight more defensively, they might be able to extend his career by about six years. Khan is 34, but he’s got the hand speed of a fighter in his early 20s.
He’s still the fastest welterweight in the division without question. What’s held Khan back is his wreckless fighting style, which has led to him getting knocked out four times.
Interestingly, Khan has only lost by decision once in his 16-year professional career, and that was a controversial 12 round split decision to Lamont Peterson in December 2011.
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Brook can still punch with the same power as always, but he’s had eye problems, and his ring activity has slowed to a crawl since his loss to Gennadiy Golovkin in 2016.
Since losing to GGG by a fifth round knockout, Brook has competed just five times in the last five years. With that kind of inactivity, it’s no wonder why Brook has struggled.
He’s not stayed active enough to remain sharp, which is troubling because he had the skills and the power to be one of the dominant welterweights in the division all these years.
You can argue that Brook hasn’t taken full advantage of his career in the last four years by fighting two to three times a year. Had Brook been more active, he would have made a lot more money than he has.
“I’m training. I’d like to be back in the UK. I’d take the Brook fight all day long,” said Khan to Fighthype. “Brook needs to step it up and make it happen.
“I’m ready now. Let’s hope he doesn’t outbid himself. I’m ready. I’ve never been anybody to turn down any fight.
“Do you think I’m scared of Kell Brook? Let’s make that fight happen,” said Khan.
Brook has continually been turned away by Khan when he’s attempted to set up fights with him in the past.
At this point, you can understand why Brook might be leery of accepting Khan’s challenge, perhaps fearing that if he shows interest, he’ll wind up scaring Amir away.
