By Edward Chaykovsky

British star Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) will lose all respect for his domestic rival, IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs), if he avoids his mandatory challenger Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs).

Brook has not fought since suffering a fifth round TKO defeat at the hands of middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in September. In that contest, that saw Brook move up by two weight divisions, he suffered a fractured orbital bone and need surgery.

There are ongoing talks for Khan and Brook to fight each other in the summer, but Khan plans to take an interim-fight in April. Khan has been away from the ring since suffering a knockout loss to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in May. Khan had hand surgery a few months ago, and only recently got back to training.

Khan believes the fight with Brook can happen next year, but he fears the Sheffield fighter will really hurt his reputation if he doesn't fight Spence.

"I think it can happen [with Brook]. I want the fight. It's all about the negotiations, making sure we get the right deal and everything going the right way. I heard that Kell Brook is giving up his IBF title. I don't respect a fighter that gives up his title. If someone's going to give up their title that they won, what's the point in being in the sport? I'd rather get beat [for my title], I respect that," Khan told ES News.

"You still hold on to your title regardless of who is in front of you. He's the one guy who is going to give up his title up. That's really sad to see. You see a guy who wins a world title and then you give it up because you don’t want to fight the opposition or the mandatory, whoever it is. [Marcos] Maidana was my mandatory and Zab Judah... even [Danny] Garcia was, and the other guy from D.C... Lamont Peterson. I always fight my mandatories."

"The thing about Kell Brook, this is the first mandatory that he’s going to be facing and he’s talking about pulling out. Why? How can you respect a fighter who pulls out of his mandatory fight?"

There are some factual mistakes by Khan. Spence would be Brook's third mandatory opponent, not his first. Brook blasted out two prior mandatories, Jo Jo Dan and Kevin Bizier. On Khan's side of the fence, the fight with Judah was a unification [Judah was the IBF champion at the time], and the fight with Garcia was also a unification [Garcia was the WBC champion and a late replacement for Peterson who failed a drug test].