By Ian S Palmer
Former world champions Amir Khan and Kell Brook of England will engage in a huge domestic grudge match this Saturday, February 19th for bragging rights. The 12-round bout from the Manchester Arena is at a catch weight of 149 lbs and can be seen live in the UK on Sky Box Office while American fans can catch the action on ESPN+. Brook, a former IBF Champion, last fought in November, 2020 when he was stopped in the fourth round by Terence Crawford in a shot at the WBO Welterweight Title. Khan, a former WBA and IBF Super Lightweight champion, stopped Billy Dib in the fourth round in July in his last outing for the vacant WBC International Welterweight Title.
This will be Khan’s fifth bout after a two year layoff. He stopped Phil Lo Greco after just 39 seconds in his first comeback tilt in April, 2018 before beating Samuel Vargas by 12-round unanimous decision five months later. He was then stopped by Terence Crawford in six rounds in April, 2019. Khan was nailed by a low blow and instead of taking the five minutes recovery time allowed he informed referee David Fields that he didn’t want to continue. He then followed up with the win over Dib three months later but he’s still been inactive now for just over two-and-a-half years.
The 35-year-old Khan is also a former British Commonwealth Lightweight Champion who enters the contest at 34-5 with 21 Kos. He’s also won a few other regional and minor titles during his career. His sixth-round stoppage loss to Canelo Alvarez in a shot at the WBC Middleweight Title in May, 2016 snapped a five-fight winning streak with victories over Chris Algieri, Devon Alexander, Luiz Collazo, Julio Diaz and Carlos Molina. Four of Khan’s five career pro defeats have come by stoppage and it’s well known his chin is questionable even though he has stood up to some solid punchers.
His first loss was a first-round stoppage to Breidis Prescott in 2008 and he then dropped a highly-controversial split decision to Lamont Peterson in December of 2011. He was stopped by former WBC Champion Danny Garcia in the fourth round in his very next fight in July, 2012 and was also KO’d by Alvarez. Some felt he quit against Terence Crawford while others felt he didn’t, but he should have taken the full five minutes before making up his mind if he was going to continue or not.
Khan has faced and beaten some of the best boxers of his weight divisions over the years such as Marco Antonio Barrera, Zab Judah, Andriy Kotelnik, Paulie Malignaggi and Marcos Maidana as well as those mentioned above on his five-bout winning streak. In fact, Khan’s gone 11-4 with 3 Kos against former and current world champions. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and capped it off with a silver medal in the lightweight division at the 2004 Olympics as a 17-year-old.
Khan turned pro in 2005 and now has 232 rounds under his belt since with a decent knockout ratio of 54 per cent. He stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with a reach of 71 inches and possesses fine boxing skills, speed and movement in the ring. He’s not known as a power puncher, but managed to stop Judah and deck Maidana and Collazo. Khan is a fine boxer with a questionable chin but isn’t considered elite anymore. However, neither is Dib so this should be a somewhat competitive fight.
Brook is also 35-years-old and he lost his IBF Welterweight Title to Errol Spence when he was stopped in the 11th round in May, 2017. He was also stopped in the fight before that when he moved up to middleweight to take on former WBA, IBF, IBO and WBC Champion Gennady Golovkin in a title fight in September, 2016 when he was halted in the fifth round. In addition, he also suffered facial injuries in the losses to Spence and Golovkin.
Brook put up an entertaining fight against Golovkin even though he moved up two weight divisions, but ultimately ended up with a broken orbital bone for his efforts. His fight against Spence was also an exciting one and he won three straight fights before running into Crawford in late 2020. He still enters the ring on Saturday with an impressive record of 39-3 with 27 Kos though. Brook originally won the IBF title in August, 2014 with an impressive majority-decision win over Shawn Porter.
He then sat out a few months after he was stabbed with a machete in the leg during an attack while on holiday in Tenerife. He’s certainly not the biggest junior middleweight around as he stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69-inch reach but is actually a half-inch taller than Khan while giving up two inches in reach. Brook made his pro debut in 2004 and has fought 220 rounds since. Before beating Porter, Brook was a former British Welterweight Champion.
His biggest fights up until then were against the likes of Philip Kotey, Lovemore NDou, Matthew Hatton and Carson Jones. As far as power goes, Brook isn’t really known as a big hitter but his current knockout ratio stands at a pretty impressive 64.3 per cent and his power is slightly underrated. He also owns a pretty good chin despite the outcome of the Golovkin, Spence and Crawford bouts and can fight on the back foot as well as going forward.
Prediction…
It’s no secret that Khan and Brook don’t like each other and this fight has been years in the making. They’re both past their prime but are still on equal footing so this should still be an exciting fight. Khan has the better boxing skills, Brook has more power and neither has a granite chin. The fight may come down to heart, desire and aggression. Khan’s speed, skills and punch output are among the best in the division and that should give him a slight edge, but it’s definitely not a guarantee especially after being out of the ring for 2.5 years. There’s supposedly a rematch clause in effect and if both boxers can muster up their peak powers it’s still a tossup. However, I’m going to give the edge to Khan in this one.
