Boxing is back! Having been suspended in the UK for the month of January, for obvious reasons, the sport returned with a cracker on Saturday night, as Chris Eubank Jr got the better of his long-term rival Liam Williams in Cardiff.
And in just under two weeks’ time, another all-British grudge match will be on show as Amir Khan and Kell Brook finally, after years of goading and posturing, go head-to-head to determine, once and for all, who the better man is.
The cynics out there will argue it’s too little, too late. This is a bout that should have happened six years ago, at the latest. And to their credit, they have a point. But as a clearly riled up domestic duo exchanged a verbal spar at their announcement presser in November last year, there was a distinct reminder of the long-standing and unquestionable disdain that lingers between them.
The tension was palpable; the egos on show. The 40 second trailer of their ‘The Gloves Are Off’ episode posted a day later only raised the appetite further. Forget their prior achievements, February 19 is what both fighters will be remembered for. It’s not surprising tickets were sold out in just 10 minutes.
Now more than ever, the match-up is wonderfully difficult to call. Both battered and bruised from their respective endeavors for everlasting glory. Just how much either fighter has left in the tank remains unknown.
But with the early starts, brutal spars and punishing runs increasingly taking their tole with each and every camp for the 35-year-old rivals, neither could have asked for a better dance partner for what could perhaps be their last hurrahs.
On February 19 Amir Khan (left) and Kell Brook (right) go to war in another domestic clash
But where exactly does this long-standing rivalry come from? Their journeys have been intertwined right from the amateur days. Born in the same year and being regional neighbours, Khan from Bolton and Brook from Sheffield, they have always been on each other’s radars.
The seasoned veterans no longer resemble their former selves, but the amateurs remain a topic to this day. Khan, who claimed an unlikely Olympic silver medal in 2004, aged just 17, still insists he would make a fool of Brook when the pair sparred as teenagers.
Speaking at their November presser, he said: ‘I used to school him in Olympic training camp. The trainers used to say “just go in and use one hand against him today!”
‘You will see on February 19 how I school and play with this guy, just like the early days. Why is it I got picked for the Olympic team? Because I was schooling Kell Brook with one hand. I’d ask, “do you want the jab, left-hook or uppercut” and they’d say “just throw the jab”.’
‘Delusional’, was the word Brook used to describe Khan’s rather dismissive version of the story. It has been a common theme throughout the years: Brook insisting he wants the fight, Khan insisting he’d have to drop down a level.
Khan insisted he ‘schooled’ Brook when the pair sparred during Olympic training camps
The Bolton fighter won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, aged just 17 years old
Their disdain was clearly evident during their announcement press conference in November
Their paths have crossed many times since. In 2009, a 19-0 Brook fought on the undercard as Khan claimed his first world title, the WBO light-welterweight belt. Brook even wished the Bolton star good luck ahead of the fight.
Then, in 2012 came their infamous coming together when appearing on an episode of Ringside. Brook insisted a bout between the pair had to happen, stating ‘it would only be a matter of time’ before he got the KO’. Khan, meanwhile, said he’d be willing to drop down in levels to take the fight.
But ultimately it was in 2016 when the fight should have happened. Brook was the IBF welterweight champion, a title he won by defeating Shawn Porter in a career-best win. And Khan – after losing out to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia – defeated three former world champions in succession upon moving to the same weight.
Instead, Khan, a former unified light-welterweight world champion, climbed up two weight classes to be knocked out by Canelo Alvarez. Brook then went on his own search for all-time great status as he took on a monstrous Gennady Golovkin in an equally disastrous move.
Khan was knocked out cold by Canelo Alvarez (left) while Brook suffered a broken eye socket during a punishing defeat to Gennady Golovkin (right)
Some six years later, both fighters are undoubtedly coming towards the conclusion of their careers.
Khan has fought just four times since that damaging defeat to Canelo, where he was left sprawled across the canvas following a thunderous right hand with 30 seconds remaining of round six.
He returned nearly two years later with a one-round demolition job against Phil Lo Greco, needing just 39 seconds to stop the Canadian. Then came more arduous points win over Samuel Vargas five months later, where Khan was made to climb off the floor – though also scoring two knockdowns of his own – on the way to a points win.
Khan insisted Manny Pacquiao was his No 1 target in the immediate aftermath, though he acknowledged Brook was also an option. Hearn, his promoter at the time, said they would review their options, though stating it was ‘now or never’ for the Brook fight.
Khan insisted Manny Pacquiao was his No 1 target after beating Phil Lo Greco
Indeed, a fight between the rivals did emerge as a possibility. Khan was expected to be ringside as Brook fought Michael Zerafa in Sheffield, but he skipped the event for his birthday.
And though Hearn claimed the pair owed it to the British public to make the fight, and while Khan admitted he’d make more money fighting Brook, he instead went down the route of fighting Terence Crawford in another legacy-defining bout.
‘Fighting for a pound for pound title would be amazing,’ Khan told Sportsmail at the time. ‘To win it would be even better so I think I’m in a position where I can get that fight with the pound for pound champion at the moment.
‘The Brook fight is always going to be there, it’s for no title whereas I’m getting offered a world title and the pound for pound title so why not?’
We all know how the fight played out. After being knocked down in round one, Khan was then pulled out by his corner in round six following an accidental low blow.
Terence Crawford stopped Khan, who insisted he was unable to continue after a low blow
Brook suffered another damaging defeat, breaking his other eye socket against Errol Spence Jr
Khan refuted accusations of quitting, insisting he was in too much pain to continue. However, despite being allowed five minutes to recover, the bell rang about a minute after the incident, with the Bolton fighter wanting no more. Crawford was 49-45, 50-44 and 49-45 up on the cards at the time of the stoppage.
Khan’s only fight since was against Billy Dib in 2019, a farcical bout in Saudi Arabia which is not really worth discussing.
Brook meanwhile jumped straight back into top-level action following his damaging defeat to Golovkin, where he was pulled out during round five having seriously injured his eye. In fact, GGG – then the most feared boxer on the planet – broke Brook’s eye socket, more specifically known as a an orbital bone fracture.
Brook required surgery after but then immediately squared off against Errol Spence Jr, who again delivered a wealth of punishment. Brook suffered another broken eye socket, this time to the other eye. And though trying to battle on, he eventually took a knee and said enough was enough in the 11th round, having been floored in the 10th.
The welterweight won successive bouts against Sergey Rabchenko, Zerafa and Mark DeLuca to build back his confidence, but then came his own defeat against Crawford in 2020, where the pound-for-pound star got the job done in the fourth round. Brook hasn’t fought since.
Remarkably, after defeating both fighters, Crawford remains involved having helped train Khan for the impending bout.
Brook was stopped in the fourth round as he stepped up in class again to fight Crawford
They might not be the fighters they once were, but the hatred between them remains fierce. And with less than two weeks remaining until the blockbuster showdown, things are really heating up.
Posted on Sky Sports following the Eubank Jr-Williams bout was a clip of a joint interview between the pair, in which Khan vowed to ‘finish off’ his great rival.
‘I think it comes down to how hard you’ve worked and how hard I’ve worked going into this fight,’ he said. ‘Obviously with the great sparring, the great game plan that we have for this fight and just go in there and hurt Kell.
“That’s what I want to do. I don’t want to go in there to just box him, I want to go in there to hurt him and to put him away. I mean, like I already said, he’s already beaten, he’s already got smashed up eye sockets, he’s already been beaten, knocked out.
‘So you know what, this is the time now where I just finish him off, finish his career off so he never needs to look at boxing again. This is going to be a nice payday for you Kell Brook, so you just get this payday, walk off and leave this sport happy.’
Brook, meanwhile, insisted Khan has always needed to be in control, but says that won’t be the case on fight night.
‘He gets destroyed. He gets beat, like I’ve been telling you for years,’ Brook said. He’s getting beat, he never wanted this fight, it’s me who’s wanted this fight for the fans. They’ve got the fight now.
‘He’s always had it his own way, even in the negotiations, but he’s not having his own way in two weeks time.’
What will happen on fight night in truth is anyone’s guess. As is what happens after the fight.
Both fighters have acknowledged the possibility that this could be their last outings. But, crucially, Brook confirmed in January that a rematch clause was inserted into the contract.
So while we’ve waited what feels an eternity for the monumental clash to take place, we might just get it twice in a matter of months. Like London buses, as they say.
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