By Keith Idec
The most obvious fight for Amir Khan now that he has signed with promoter Eddie Hearn is a long-discussed domestic showdown with Kell Brook.
A Khan-Brook bout would do big business in the United Kingdom, even though the former champions from England have suffered numerous knockout defeats in recent years. Khan acknowledged during a press conference Wednesday to announce his three-fight deal with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing that he still wants to box Brook.
The 30-year-old Khan conceded, however, that weight will be the determining factor in whether a fight against Brook becomes reality.
Khan contends he still can make the welterweight limit of 147 pounds. Brook, a former IBF welterweight champ, has fought as high as the middleweight limit of 160 and has moved up to 154 pounds for his next fight.
“Looking at future fights, maybe someone like Kell Brook,” Khan said during the press conference, according to a story on Sky Sports’ website. “I know he has moved up a weight, but maybe that fight could happen later on in the year. I need to see what weight I am going to feel comfortable. I am still saying I can make 147 pounds, but once I put the muscle on and once I go back to training camp, that is when I will get a better understanding of what weight I want to fight at.”
Bolton’s Khan weighed 155 pounds for his last fight, the maximum catch weight for his middleweight championship match against Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican superstar knocked Khan unconscious with a crushing right hand in the sixth round of that May 2016 bout in Las Vegas.
Sheffield’s Brook (36-2, 25 KOs) is scheduled to battle Belarus’ Siarhei Rabchanka (29-2, 22 KOs) on March 3 in Sheffield. That’ll mark Brook’s first fight since Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) knocked him out in the 11th round to take the IBF welterweight title from him May 27 in Sheffield.
Hearn hasn’t named a foe for Khan’s return April 21. An announcement is expected sometime next week.
Khan isn’t expected to face a top opponent in his first fight in nearly two years, yet said, “I want to be in big fights. I belong in the big fights. I want to finish off my boxing career in these next couple of years with a big bang.”
2023-10-20 07:17:37
