By Keith Idec
Amir Khan has proposed that his long-discussed domestic showdown with Kell Brook take place next summer at Bramall Lane.
Khan served as an analyst for Sky Sports Box Office’s coverage of Brook’s 11th-round technical knockout loss to Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday night in Sheffield, England. After experiencing the atmosphere in Brook’s hometown, where roughly 27,000 fans attended the Spence-Brook bout at a soccer stadium, Khan thinks taking their all-British battle there makes sense.
“I would 100 percent like to fight him,” Khan said following Brook’s loss. “A fight between me and Kell Brook is a pay-per-view fight. And maybe next summer, after a tune-up fight, we could be back here.”
Eddie Hearn, Brook’s promoter, tried to arrange a Khan-Brook bout before moving forward with Brook’s mandatory defense of the IBF welterweight title against America’s Spence (22-0, 19 KOs). Hearn and Khan’s representatives couldn’t come to a financial agreement, but neither side has given up on staging the fight.
Hearn mentioned a Brook-Khan fight during an interview with Sky Sports in the ring after Spence beat Brook on Saturday night. Even if they can agree on money, a Khan-Brook bout isn’t likely to take place any time soon.
Brook revealed Sunday that he suffered another broken orbital bone against Spence, this time around his left eye. The former champion didn’t seem sure if the injury would require surgery similar to the procedure that fixed his broken right orbital bone following his fifth-round technical knockout defeat to Gennady Golovkin in their middleweight title fight September 10 at O2 Arena in London.
Regardless, the injury will require a long layoff for the 31-year-old Brook (36-2, 25 KOs), who has been stopped in back-to-back bouts. Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) would like a tune-up bout before boxing Brook because the former junior welterweight champion hasn’t fought since suffering a sixth-round knockout against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) a year ago in Las Vegas.
The 30-year-old Khan would’ve liked to have fought this spring, either against Brook or Manny Pacquiao, but neither of those matches materialized following rounds of negotiations.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.