By Edward Chaykovsky
IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-0, 25KOs) is worried about the welfare of his domestic rival Amir Khan (31-4, 19KOs), who was knocked out in brutal fashion on Saturday night.
In a surprise career move, Khan moved up by eight pounds to challenge WBC middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs) at a catch-weight of 155-pounds. The HBO Pay-Per-View fight headlined the very first boxing event at the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Khan was in talks earlier this year to face Brook on a date in June, but then decided to go with a bigger opportunity with Canelo.
After boxing very well for the first five rounds, Khan was clipped by a huge right hand in the sixth round and knocked out cold.
The British superstar is now planning to drop back down to the welterweight division. Khan is still the mandatory challenger to WBC world champion Danny Garcia (32-0, 18KOs).
The biggest money fight for Khan is a domestic fight with Brook.
After Khan lost on Saturday, Brook immediately took to Twitter to call him out. He now believes the quick challenge was a mistake.
Brook said to Sky Sports: "After the defeat this weekend, it won't be safe for him to fight me. He's had some bad knockouts. I'm not sure what Canelo weighed on the night but it was a lot bigger than Amir. He got knocked out in a really bad way. I punch just as hard as Canelo. It would just be a matter of time before the same thing happened.
"I respect Amir for moving up in weight and fighting him. In their mind I think they were going down the line of it was a win-win; he was up against it, against a heavier guy, so it didn't harm anything. "If he went the distance and lost on points, it would have been good. But losing in the way he did, with a devastating knockout, was nothing good for him. He's had a few now and it's going to take it out of anyone.
"I was watching it with a group of people and everyone wanted me to fight him, but I don't think it would be safe. I've watched the fight a few times now. It's not good taking those shots like he did. I've got my fight, first of all. I'm looking for a big one this summer, so we've got to secure that first. Then who knows what will happen. All I'm interested in myself [is] fighting the very best fighters out there."
