Amir Khan V Kel Brook Evades Us Again

It looks like Amir Khan has snubbed Kel Brook yet again and is now signing to fight one of boxing's’ current Pound 4 Pound boxer in the excellent Terence Crawford.

Taking on Crawford instead of Brook is a potential huge wage drop for the still ambitious Khan; it’s also a significant step up. Throughout his career Khan has never been one to duck a challenge, sometimes at the expense of his physical health, i.e. Canelo Alvarez. Boxing forums are buzzing over the fact that Khan is still ducking Kel Brook. Maybe he is, yet he’s gone for a much more difficult and ambitious task; Crawford is no joke. Some people say that Terence Crawford is the best boxer in the world Pound 4 Pound, I’m not sure of that, I have my own choices on that mythical title. I do however believe that Terrence, physically brings more to the table than Brook does.

Kel Brook a couple years ago was an elite operator and ruler of the welterweight division, however in 2019 Kel isn’t the same fighter. He put up a courageous display against a man I believe is the greatest middleweight of all time in Gennady Golovkin. Kel was boxing two divisions above his natural weight. Not only that but Kel was stopped and lost for the first time, because his orbital socket had been smashed and required surgery with insertion of a titanium plate to repair. Things became worse for Kel, he boiled himself back down to welterweight and lost his title to the excellent Errol Spence. In yet another freak accident, Kel had his other orbital socket smashed, requiring another titanium plate inserting into his other eye socket. Kel has had a couple wins since and in his last bout against the average Michael Zerafi, he looked jaded and extremely easy to hit. Was this subpar performance a ploy to lure in Amir Khan? I doubt it, I just believe that Kel is a faded force and should not be boxing at welterweight, but should be boxing at a division higher.

Eddie Hearn, who promotes both Amir Khan and Kel Brook, has Wembley available and booked for April. This could have been a huge money making venture for both warriors. Kel has been quite verbal against Khan and tried to bully Khan into taking the fight. This is similar to how Junior Witter (also from the camp as Brook) hounded Ricky Hatton many years ago. Hatton was so frustrated by Witter that he refused to fight Junior and give him a payday.

What is Khan’s reasoning behind snubbing Brook? Every now and again he’ll tell fans the Brook fight is almost signed and then it all goes quiet. Khan has always sought out the biggest challenges out there. For many years Khan tried to lure both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao into title fights. Floyd even put up a poll as to who he should fight next, and when Khan won the poll he went for the easier option. You can’t deny that Khan is a brave warrior and I admire his choices to seek out the best challenges. Khan is well known in the USA. Khan has both won and lost in America and has a solid following, this is something Brook doesn’t have. I am happy to see that Khan has chosen glory over money. The fight is allegedly set for the hallowed Madison Square Garden in New York on April 20th, 2019. Bob Arum would be the promoter. The fight would be on ESPN PPV.

I can understand why the UK is dismayed by Khan decision, I know I’d be tempted to take the cash generated by a Brook fight over the glory of boxing a Pound for Pound fighter at the home of boxing, Madison Square Garden. If Khan loses to Crawford which would be my prediction, he can go out with his head held high and still box Kel Brook. If he goes straight into a Kel Brook fight and loses, his career as a main event star is over and within the British fight community people will always bring up Kel Brook to Aamir Khan, bragging rights are always a big deal.

No matter what happens in the coming weeks, one thing you cannot deny is Amir Khan’s desire to challenge himself in the ring. I admire Khan’s choice of opponent. I hope that Kel Brook soon finds a dance partner to box with. Brook is highly ranked by the world governing bodies at the higher weight of lightmiddle. While Khan is busy, I suggest that Brook takes on one of the world champions in Hurd, Charlo, Munguia, or Castano. Having a world title would attract Khan to the negotiation table. Kel could take on another highly ranked and popular British fight in Liam Smith. Either way, the options are not bleak for Kel, he’s lucky to have such options. I feel that both fighters will eventually meet, but it will be later in 2019.