By Edward Chaykovsky
British star Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs) rejected the idea that he was scared of a summer showdown with IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (35-0, 24KOs).
Khan was going to take a stay-busy fight in March, with Brook making his mandatory defense against Kevin Bizier on March 26th in Sheffield. Should both of them have won their March appearances, then they would have faced each other on June 4th at Wembley.
Brook was caught completely by surprise when Khan announced on Tuesday that he was moving up to 155-pounds to challenge Saul "Canelo" Alvarez for the WBC middleweight title on May 7th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Khan's unexpected decision has left Brook with a big name opponent for the summer.
Khan blames the entire situation with Brook on the champion's promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport. He claims Hearn offered him a very large sum of money to do the fight, but then he never followed through with that financial promise.
"I was offered £10 million in Liverpool by Eddie Hearn for that fight. But they didn't agree to it in the end," Khan said.
"I wish Kell all the very best. Maybe that fight can happen one day. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I tried to make that fight and I'm now looking at bigger and better things. If people say I'm scared of Kell Brook, why would I go into a fight with Canelo Alvarez ? Canelo is one of the hottest names in boxing who no one wants to fight. When promoter Oscar de la Hoya offered me this fight, I took it in a heartbeat."
