By Barry Holbrook: Last Saturday night, Kell Brook finally responded to Amir Khan’s call out for a fight later this year by saying, “Let’s get to it.”
Brook, 34, says he’s been keeping quiet lately because he believes the fight has a better chance of happening if he doesn’t talk.
Over the years, Brook has learned that when he’s shown interest in fighting Khan, it’s resulted in him pulling away.
Now it’s to the point where Brook knows Khan like the back of his hand, and it’s going to make the mistake of seeming too eager to face him.
At this point, Khan won’t back off now because he’s at the end of the dusty road of his career, and he can no longer stall on the Brook fight. Both guys are at the end.
Former IBF welterweight champion Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) sounded overjoyed in giving his thoughts on a potential fight with Khan (34-5, 21 KOs), which he’s been chasing for well over a decade.
Khan, 34, surprised everyone recently when he revealed that he’s ready to take on Brook at the end of the year.
To prepare himself for the fight, Khan has been training with WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and his coach Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre in Nebraska.
Crawford defeated Brook by a fourth round knockout in his last fight in November in a competitive match in the first three rounds.
Brook: It’s got to happen
“I’ve been quiet because there’s more of a chance of it happening then,” said Kell Brook to iFL TV in reacting to Amir Khan saying there’s a chance of them fighting at the end of the year.
“When I’m loud. Listen, that’s the fight that’s happening. Get to it, Khan. Listen, put it on a little contract, and we’re there. There’s a lot of talks. This year it’s happening; it’s got to happen,” said Brook.
Unfortunately, putting the Khan vs. Brook fight together might still be a problem because both of these guys will want to be the A-side. Brook has done more with his career than Khan has, but it’s debatable which of the two is more popular.
Years ago, Khan was clearly the guy with the huge fan base, but he’s done so little with his career over the last 10 years, Brook has caught up to him.
“Both of those guys identify that fight as maybe the only fight for them,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV in speaking about Brook and Khan.
“I’d like to see Conor Benn in that mix as well, but these guys want to make as much money as possible, and they’ve talked to everyone, and they’ll do the best deal for them,” Hearn said of Khan and Kell Brook.
We’ll see if this fight can get made between Khan and Brook. Given how shaky the two have looked, it’s a good idea to make it next and not look for any interim fights.
In what clearly is a self-serving move, Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn would like to see the young welterweight upstart Conor Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) have a chance to fight Khan or Brook as well.
So if the two can’t bang out a deal, Hearn would like to see one or both take on the 24-year-old Benn. It would be a passing of the torch for Brook or Khan in taking on the young lion Benn, helping him build his credentials on the world stage by fighting a notable guy.
Brook might still be a little too dangerous for Benn, and Hearn might be sorry if he makes that fight.
Of the two, Brook is more likely to face Benn than Khan, who hasn’t fought in two years and seems to be risk-averse right now.
Kell sees Khan fight as second biggest in British boxing
“I think bar Fury-AJ, I still think it’s the biggest fight in British boxing,” said Brook about his match with Khan. “I think everyone will still get very excited about that fight. He [Hearn] knows I want that fight,” said Brook.
“You do; you’ve always wanted that fight,” said Hearn of Kell, wanting to fight Amir for years.
The UK boxing fans will get excited about the Khan vs. Brook fight, but not the Americans.
This fight has marinated for too many years for the fans to be still interested, and it’s obvious that Khan and Brook are both on the downside of their careers.
“I think he [Khan] actually wants it now,” said Brook. “I’ve done everything in my career. That is the grudge match that I’ll finish the icing on the cake. That’s the fight the world needs to see,” Brook said.
“As I said, both guys want as much money as possible,” said Hearn on the Brook – Khan contest. “So, we are a small piece of that. If there’s a deal to be done, there’s a deal to be done, but we’ll see,” said Hearn.
Khan vs. Brook will likely wind up on pay-per-view and will be heading towards a football stadium. It’ll sell a decent number of buys, but nowhere near what it would have been a decade ago.
Khan has changed
“It seems that Amir Khan’s more into this fight these days. How things have changed, you know?” said Hearn on Khan suddenly showing interest in fighting Kell.
“He knows,” said Brook.
Khan knows he’s at the end of his career, and he can no longer afford to put off the Brook fight if he wants to have a chance of scooping up millions for one last big payday.
“The other thing is, Amir Khan genuinely wants the fight, I believe,” said Hearn. “That’s always been the [problem]. Yes, you’ve always wanted the fight,” said Eddie to Kell.
“Will it happen?” said Brook to Hearn.
“If everyone is sensible, yeah,” said Hearn.
“It will happen,” said a happy-sounding Brook of the Amir fight. “It’s got to, doesn’t it? You know what I want to do to the guy?”
“I just want to say one thing before he goes. You don’t look that heavy,” Hearn said in remarking about Brook’s weight looking good. “It’s a good sign.”
“I’ve got my new trick down here,” said Brook on his weight.
