Too Little Too Late, Who Will Get Chinned First? Kell’s Loose Eye Socket Versus Amir’s Flimsy Chin. Khan vs. Brook: Do we even still care now? Whatever headline we want to label this fight that’s clearly past the sell-by date, the time is here for these two boxers to finally face each other in the squared circle.
There’s an old saying, “don’t cry over spilled (spoiled) milk,” and for boxing fans who have followed the sport for a while know not to make a huge deal about this fight not happening at this juncture.
Yes, it does suck that it never happened and would’ve been a great matchup prime vs. prime, but that ship has sailed. Let’s hope we get some choppy waters speaking of ship sailed, and with both men at the twilight of their careers maybe just maybe this fight will be entertainingly competitive.
The gloves are off head-to-head hype video is worth a watch and let’s not act that may be the best part of this matchup. In all seriousness, let’s break down this fight starting with Amir Khan, who hasn’t stepped through those ropes since the summer of 2019. Khan fought twice that year against Billy Dib and Terrence Crawford.
The year prior, Amir went one quick round by stopping Phil Le Greco and 12 rounds with Samuel Vargas in a fight that saw Khan down in the 2nd round. Of late, we have many examples of fighters out of the ring for long spells only to look like crap in the ring. Two weeks ago, Keith Thurman did a pretty good job beyond him getting hurt to the body per usual.
So what can we expect from Khan and Brook with such long stints on the sidelines? We truthfully won’t get that answer until the opening bell rings, and these two long-standing enemies meet on ESPN+ in the U.S. and Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K. As we know, Khan tends to come out of the gates fast with his superior hand speed and boxing ability.
Long ago, sure, but we all remember how Khan started his fight with Danny Garcia. Another example is his bout with Canelo, which saw a very successful chunk of rounds before he was brutally stopped by a one-punch knockout. For a boxer who relies on sharpness and timing to this extent, Khan could take longer to get the rust off and find his timing.
The last time Kell Brook climbed those ropes came via TKO stoppage by the hands of one of the top-tier pound-for-pound boxers in the sport Terence Crawford. That was in the fall of 2020, so Kell does have a slight bit of an advantage as far as not being out of the ring as long as Khan. The opening rounds saw Kell Brook get off with his jab while winning some rounds until he was caught flush and soon after forced to submit.
The old Kell probably would’ve found a new gear and revved his engines up enough to rally back even in a clear loss. This version looked like he had enough as the writing was on the wall, and ‘Bud’ was going to finish him regardless. Kell does have a solid jab and straight right hand followed by a clinch game that is effective.
This is a perfect segue to the X’s and O’s for Saturday’s matchup, where both men will obviously being looking to establish their jabs and control distance. Kell will likely want to use his size and strength to hold on the inside after landing flush shots. Amir will want to stay on the outside using his elite-level hand speed and good foot movement to stay at range. So which will come first, the hard, clean shot by Kell Brook that sends Amir Khan crashing to the canvas? Or will Amir Khan’s accuracy do damage to either of Kell’s eye sockets? You have to figure a nice payday as far as motivation is near the top of the list besides a long-standing rivalry heading into this matchup.
In the past, we’ve seen these past-due-date fights be one-sided or just plain boring. On the flip side, sometimes a deeply-fueled dispute can inspire aged boxers, and it almost cancels out the not being in their prime thing, in a sense evening the playing field. Both men will get hurt; this boxing podcaster is siding that it will be Khan that will get hurt a few times if, in fact, it goes the distance. Something worth noting is the rehydration clause that would probably be in Amir Khan’s favor.
This fight comes down to Kell Brook’s ability to stay patient yet somewhat busy because if he can land that one game-changer, it’s curtains. I think we will get better than expect a two-way fight with Amir Khan’s jab, hand speed, and accuracy being the difference-maker. The safe play gambling wise is probably to put some doe down on a slight underdog in Amir and Kell to win by stoppage. I never like being somewhat blind going into a prediction which it feels that way due to their most recent performance and the time spent out of the ring.
My Official Prediction is Amir Khan by Majority-Decision.
Side Note: Keep an eye out for ShoBox’s main event Jermaine Ortiz vs. Nahir Albright on Friday, and Jamie Munguia returns against Keith Ballard Saturday night on DAZN.
Written by Chris Carlson Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio & Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio