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SHEFFIELD, England - Former champion Amir Khan believes the demons of Kell Brook's last fight showed up to haunt him on Saturday night, when Brook lost his IBF welterweight belt when mandatory challenger Errol Spence stopped him in the 11th round.
Backed by most of the 27,000 spectators at Bramall Lane in his Sheffield hometown, Brook met Spence on even terms in the first eight rounds.
But Brook's left eye began to swell, and he was knocked down in the 10th round. With his left eye almost closed, he took a knee in the 11th and referee Howard Foster agreed to end the contest. Spence, who owns a 22-0 record with 19 knockouts, relieved Brook of the welterweight title in his fourth defense.
Brook, at 36-2, lost for a second straight time after an ill-fated attempt to move up two divisions to middleweight and take on Gennady Golovkin eight months ago.
In the fight with Golovkin, Brook suffered a fractured right orbital bone that forced his corner to throw in the towel. This time around against Spence, it was the left eye that got badly damaged. Brook appeared to panic when the left eye began to swell up and started taking punishment during the fight. He eventually decided to take a voluntary knee in the eleventh and stayed down.
"I'd like to fight him at 147," Khan told Sky Sports Box Office. "Obviously Kell has had the loss now and I'm sure he's going to go into another fight that is going to be a nice, tune-up fight. Maybe next summer we could be back. It depends on Kell's eye, and also the dates - there are a lot of pay-per-per view fights on. The fight between me and Kell Brook is a pay-per-view fight. I really believe that fight next summer would make sense.
"Kell needs some time now to relax and chill out. With next summer, it gives him the chance to have a tune-up fight before then going into a big fight. Let's see how it goes. Kell looked great on the scales and he looked great today again. I just don't think the weight is something - I think the demons have come back from the Golovkin fight."