By Scott Gilfoid: IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook and Amir Khan are both coming off of stoppage losses in 2016, but they could wind up facing each other in 2017 if the fight can get negotiated. Brook, 30, wants Khan to commit to fighting him next year. Khan seems to be open to the idea of finally facing Brook, but he wants it to take place in the welterweight division.
Brook recently moved up to middleweight in a failed attempt to defeat IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Brook landed some shots here and there, but he was only competitive for one round in the fight. Brook was staggered in the 1st, and running in rounds 3 through 5.
Brook only looked good in the 2nd round, and that was because of him landing a good uppercut. Other than that one punch, the round was pretty even, because Golovkin’s harder shots were doing more damage to the face of Brook.
Brook said this on his Twitter to Khan:
”Amir Khan, are you ready to secure this fight with me, a huge showdown in 2017 for all the fans!”
I get the feeling that Khan recognizes that he needs to make the fight with Brook soon like in 2017, because both of their boxing careers are on the verge of implosion now. Brook says he wants to fight in the 154lb division now following his loss to Golovkin. However, Brook clearly doesn’t have the power to compete against the lions in the junior middleweight division in my opinion.
When you look at guys like Julian “J-Rock” Williams, Jermall Charlo, Jermell Charlo, Erislandy Lara and Demetrius Andrade, it becomes immediately clear that Brook doesn’t have the power or the frame to be fighting those guys. Heck, even contenders at 154 like Erickson Lubin, Miguel Cotto and Jarrett Hurd would likely be too much for Brook.
Unless Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn is going put him in a soft diet of weaker opposition for the next two or three years, Brook is going to start suffering losses almost immediately. There are no titles that Brook can go after now where there’s an easy mark for him. Liam Smith was arguably the only easy mark among the bunch, and he was just chopped down by Saul Canelo Alvarez. Once Canelo vacates his WBO title, #2 WBO Demetrius Andrade will be fighting for his belt.
Brook will NEVER beat a talent like Andrade, never! That’s why it’s important for Khan and Brook to fight now before Brook starts getting slapped around by the bigger, stronger and more talented fighters in the 154lb division. If Brook stays at 147, then he has to fight #1 IBF contender Errol Spence, and he’s not going to beat him, especially if he’s bellyaching about being weight drained.
Khan needs to fight Brook now, because he’s going to surely lose once he challenges WC champion Danny Garcia.