By Edward Chaykovsky
For over two years, IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) has been trying to chase down a domestic blockbuster against his career rival, Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs).
At the start of 2016, the boxers were in serious discussions to face each other, but then Khan - in what was an unexpected shocker at the time - signed a contract to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez at a catch-weight of 155-pounds for the WBC middleweight title.
The fight, which took place last May at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, saw Khan get knocked out in six rounds.
Khan has been inactive since that loss. He underwent two surgeries to correct an old injury to his right hand.
Two fighters were once again in serious discussions when 2017 started off, but they were very far apart on the financial terms. Khan demanded the bulk of the money, which didn't sit well with Brook.
Brook is now scheduled to face mandatory challenger Errol Spence on May 27th in Sheffield - but he still very much desires a fight with Khan.
The Bolton star recently explained why a fight with Brook would be a very bad idea for his career. He feels a fight with Brook will create a very poor promotional atmosphere for the fans, where the two fighters - and Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport - will be verbally abusing each other on a daily basis.
Khan makes it clear that he doesn't need that type of atmosphere in his career.
"I just think sometimes the promoters kill a fight before it happens," Khan told Gareth Davies of The Telegraph. "It just seems to me Eddie Hearn does more talking than Brook. They're making this into a war when it's just a sport. I don't need it in my career. I just think it became a slagging off match. Me and Eddie. Everywhere I went people said knock him out, do this, do that. It just got messy.
"I don't need that in my career. If me and Kell Brook fought each other, we'll be talking sh*t about each other at press conferences, and putting each other down so much people will think this is a joke, this isn't real. I never want to be known for a fight like that. I know it's going to make me trash talk. Do I need the fight? No. My career has been great and I've still got good fights ahead of me."