Eddie Hearn, who promotes former world champions Amir Khan and Kell Brook, is not surprised at the extreme and personal level of trash talking between his two boxers.
Hearn is trying to finalize a deal for a Khan vs. Brook showdown - which is going to land in the first quarter of 2019. The fight has been anticipated for several years and there have been numerous failed attempts to get a deal done.
Both boxers saw action twice in 2018, and both had lackluster performances in their most recent outings - making the contest a 50-50 pick'em fight.
A few weeks ago, Brook took a swipe at Khan for his video cam scandal - a direct reference to last year's controversy where a model released a video in January 2017 - showing Bolton boxer performing a sex act during a video session on Skype.
Earlier this week, Khan took things a step further when he questioned the sexuality of Brook.
In a video posted by The Sun, where Khan was interviewed at a charity event, the former world champion made allegations that there are constant rumors that Brook was gay.
Khan, in a very odd series of statements, challenged Brook to come clean with the public regarding his sexuality, and made allegations that Brook's 2014 stabbing incident was a direct result of the Sheffield boxer making a sexual advance on another man.
Brook is married and expecting a third child with his wife.
"How much confidence does this guy have? I’ve been told by numerous guys that he’s not a confident guy… There’s talks about him being gay. If you’re a real man, come out and say ‘Yeah, you know, I’m gay, and it is what it is.’ Come out and tell the truth. Speak out about it. Don’t be afraid," Khan said.
"If he is a confident man, he needs to come out and tell the world who he really is. Because people want to know about him. People want to know, ‘Who is this Kell Brook?’ Come out and tell us what happened. What happened when you got stabbed that time? Was it because you tried it on with some poor guy? You tried to get it on with some poor guy? These are things I’m being told from his own camp."
If Hearn is able to finalize the fight - he cautions in advance that both boxers will say a lot worse to each other in the months leading up to their event.
"Yeah, I saw [what Khan said]. I don't really want to get into things like that. It's spicing up the fight even more. It's personal. They are both going to say things in the build-up. It's not that they don't want to fight each other, they are petrified to lose to each other - because they absolutely despise each other, they despise each other and have so for years," Hearn said Fighthype.com.
"You are going to hear a lot worse if the fight is made. But I don't know if the fight will be made. [Khan] has a decision to make. And I said it would be made this week, maybe not, but it has to be made soon because everyone wants to know where we're at."