Amir Khan says he can’t see former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook defeating him when they meet next month on February 19th in their 149-lb catchweight clash at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The fight will be shown on Sky Box Office PPV in the UK.
Khan says he feels like he was at 25-years-old a decade ago, and he’s ready to show off his rejuvenated form in his grudge match with Brook next month.
Let this sink in: When Khan was in his mid-20s, he’d ALREADY been beaten by these fighters:
- Briedis Prescott
- Lamont Peterson
- Danny Garcia
With Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) now having recently turned a ripe 35-years-old and not having fought in 2 1/2 years, it’s challenging to take what he says seriously.
Khan has already made it clear that he plans on retiring after his fight with the 35-year-old Brook (39-3, 27 KOs), so this match is a golden parachute type of match to feather his nest during his retirement years.
Brook will be coming off a 15-month layoff since his fourth round knockout loss to WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford. Although Brook’s power looked as good as ever in that fight, his punch resistance appeared to be gone entirely.
Luckily for Brook, Khan isn’t a puncher, so as long as he doesn’t stick his chin out for him to tee off, he’s got an excellent chance of making short work of the 2004 Olympian.
Khan says he sparred some rounds with Crawford, and he feels he’s still got it. Since the boxing public wasn’t there for the sparring session, we have to take Khan’s work for it.
It’s implausible that the 35-year-old Khan has much left in the tank after two and a half years out of the ring.
“I’m more confident. I had a few sparring rounds with Crawford, and my sparring work and pad work with Bo-Mac and everyone, it’s back,” the 35-year-old Amir Khan said to Sky Sports.
“I feel like when I was 25, 26, and at the peak of my career,” Khan continued.
If Khan were unbeatable at 25, it would mean a lot more with him talking about how he feels as good as he did back then. Given how fragile Khan looked in his losses more than a decade ago against Prescott, Garcia, and Peterson, it might not help him if he’s discovered the Fountain of Youth.
“I can’t see Kell Brook beating me,” said Khan. I’m a better-skilled fighter; I’ve been in there with better opposition, but look, come fight night, it’s time to show my skills off.
“This talk about Kell Brook has been going on for so many years, and I think it’s a good time for me now to put it to a stop and show who the better fighter is,” said Khan.
Many boxing fans view the Khan-Brook fight as a money-grab between two faded welterweights, flawed even in their primes. At this point, Brook will likely make quick work of Khan and send him into retirement with an early knockout loss within three rounds.
