Kell Brook and Amir Khan, who of course finally get it on this Saturday night in Manchester, this after years of waiting, both know how it feels to have taken a fight against a far bigger opponent.
Khan was out of his depth when he bravely, some would say foolishly, went in with Canelo Alvarez and was brutally KO’d. Brook was out of his depth when he bravely, plenty of people did say foolishly, challenged Gennady Golovkin, and was brutally beaten.
But Brook, in looking back at the GGG fight of September 2016 with Talk Sport, says he has no regrets ever taking on the feared middleweight king – even if GGG hit him harder than anyone else ever has during his ring career.
“I don’t regret it,” Brook said of the Golovkin fight that saw him get stopped in the fifth round. “I ended it on my feet, my corner chucked the towel in. Obviously, the fighter in me wants to carry on, but one more big shot, and I could’ve actually been blind in that eye.
It was a great night and the fans still come up to me now and say how excited they were when I lifted him off his feet in round two.
A welterweight kid going up against someone who was that much of a nightmare for middleweights. It was unbelievable being in there with him. Hearing that roar and feeling it as well. It was the hardest I’ve ever been punched. Mad power.”
Brook earned respect for his gutsy challenge, yet the fight was a bridge too far (imagine, if you care to, Lloyd Honeyghan going in with Marvin Hagler; for one attempt at a comparison!) Brook suffered broken facial bones in the loss to GGG, and the injury haunted him again in his loss to Errol Spence. Two surgeries were performed and fans are now wondering if Brook’s face will hold up in the Khan fight.
This may be Brook’s major weakness, but of course, Khan’s ever unreliable chin could be his. Both men have taken some very real punishment during their respective careers and plenty of people feel Saturday’s fight will come down to who has the most left: Khan or Brook.
How much did that savage fight with GGG take out of Brook? How much did that nasty Canelo KO take out of Khan? Both fights took place some time ago, but some damage never goes away.