Sometimes a possible big fight that proves to take a long time getting made runs the risk of passing its sell-by date. Fans will only remain interested in a certain match-up for so long. Right now, the all-British showdown that is Amir Khan-Kell Brook still interests fans, in Britain especially, but if it doesn’t happen soon – say by next summer at the latest – both fighters will be running the risk of alienating the fans.
Maybe it’s too late already, and fans have cooled on the welterweight fight? But both fighters are still talking about it happening.
Khan recently stated how he is interested in taking the fight with a man he had said he does not like and who he previously stated he would not grant a big payday. Khan says, though, that he will take the fight, but that it must happen at welterweight. Brook, still the IBF champion, has yet to officially decide if he will (or if he actually can) make 147 again after bulking up to middleweight for his unsuccessful challenge of Gennady Golovkin.
But Brook, in speaking with Sky Sports, says he WILL make welterweight again, if Khan “steps up to the plate.”
“I really believe that for the right fight I will get back down to welterweight again,” Brook said. “This is where the big fights are at at the moment – and it has to be one that excites me because other than that, it [making weight] takes too much out of me. If Amir Khan finally stepped up and the fight is nailed and all signed, that’s when you’ll see me back at 147.”
Whether or not Brook has any real interest in meeting his mandatory challenger Errol Spence Junior, remains to be seen. But if Brook wants to defend his IBF belt against Khan, he must give “The Truth” his earned shot first. Maybe Brook-Khan – a possible stadium fight in the UK – will wind up being a non-title affair.
That’s if it ever happens at all. And the clock is ticking.