IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, currently being met with an unenthusiastic reception to his October 24th clash with Argentina’s Diego Chaves, has hit out at bitter divisional rival Amir Khan, once again blaming the Bolton man for being the reason behind their bout not happening, insisting that if it doesn’t come together next year, then it probably never will.
Fans angry at being promised the big names for Brook by promoter Eddie Hearn, were not expecting Khan to step up next, as he had already stated he believed Brook needs to fight bigger names, although this fight with Chaves – reasonably high risk, for very little reward/credit – is hardly going to set the world alight in that respect, and do little to entice Khan in, as the Argie is a relative unknown outside of the hardcore fans in the UK.
It’s a crying shame, and there is an argument that Brook really shouldn’t have to go jumping through hoops for Khan to make the fight, when it could easily fill Wembley Stadium tomorrow, ostensibly attracting even more attention than Carl Froch and George Groves’ May 2014 Rematch.
A hefty pay packet also awaits both men, and one wonders just how much bigger the fight could really become if left to marinate? It’s one of those that has been marinating far too long already, and is in danger of becoming one of those fights that simply ‘pass the fans by.’
“It’s all down to Amir, I’m the world champion. I just wanna please the fans. He’s letting the fans down, not just his British fans but fans all over the world who want to see this fight,” Brook said to Talksport Radio in the UK.
“It’s a grudge match and it’s been talked about on every station for years and years. The good thing about a fight between me and Khan is people can’t split us.
“Let’s get it right, he’s a good fighter and it’s going to be an exceptional fight so we just need to get in and see who number one is.
“My team and myself know we have the beating of him. His team spoke to my promoter, Eddie Hearn, but we need to speed the cogs along. It needs to happen at Wembley, hopefully next summer, but if it doesn’t happen next year I’m not sure it will happen,” Brook added.
Khan has today been linked on social media with a possible fight with the Siberian Rocky, Ruslan Provodnikov, following his theme since moving up to welter 3 years ago, of fighting guys that are natural 135 or 140 lb fighters – like Julio Diaz, Chris Algieri et al.
Whether true or not, and it’s not a bad fight, the result would seemingly be a foregone conclusion, with Provodnikov far too predictable, hittable and crude for a fighter of Khan’s speed and ring IQ.
Provided he didn’t veer away from his boxing, as he has been known to, then one only sees the Brit winning a wide points decision in that event, and such a fight will further increase pressure for him to get in with a proper welterweight like Brook, or Florida’s Keith Thurman, who has also been very publicly calling him out.
As for Brook, his underwhelming start to 2015, with an easy mandatory (not his fault), and the Frankie Gavin mis-match, were almost “get out of jail free” fights, due to his being slashed on holiday in Tenerife last year. Eddie Hearn’s promise of luring “big names” to the UK has fallen slightly flat with Chaves, even though in essence the fight isn’t a bad match up stylistically, it’s not what fight fans in the UK wanted at all, and there is a worry that Hearn has a reluctance to let Brook go back to America to contest bigger, more lucrative title bouts.
In the UK, unless a US name such as Shawn Porter (who said he will come) can be tempted across, Khan remains the ONLY fight of magnitude and real interest for Brook at top level, and Porter will remain the single best name on his resume even if he beats Chaves in October.
Brook is scheduled to box again in December, for a fourth time this year, and there are early fears that 44 year old returning veteran Shane Mosley is somehow in the mix, following last weekend’s Ricardo Mayorga debacle – “Sugar’s” first fight in two years.
Long faded, and no match for the younger, bigger, stronger Brook, the future Hall of Fame Inductee represents nothing but a name for the champion, and one, at this stage, not worth getting excited over, as he would quite surely be beaten soundly, with the potential to get badly hurt.
Brook v Khan is the MUST fight for UK fight fans in 2016, and all we can do is keep our finger’s crossed it happens.
Twitter @Undilutedpoison
