Kell Brook (40-3, 28 KOs) gleefully thrashed Amir Khan (34-6, 21 KOs), hitting him at will in their long-awaited fight until the bout was halted in the sixth round on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
In the sixth round, the referee decided he’d seen enough and stepped in and stopped the slaughter.
Khan had been hurt from the first round, staggering seemingly each time Brook would land one of his big shots. Although Khan used a lot of movement, he couldn’t avoid Brook’s attacks the entire time.
Undercard results at the Manchester Arena.
- In continuing the long line of mismatches on the card, Natasha Jonas (11-2-1, 7 KOs) took care of Chris Namus (25-7, 8 KOs), stopping her in the second round to win the vacant WBO female junior middleweight strap. The 37-year-old Jonas knocked Namus down twice in the contest, once in the first and a final time before the bout was halted in round two. The official time of the stoppage was at 0:28 of round two by referee Howard Foster.
- Unbeaten middleweight Bradley Rea (11-0, 5 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a first round knockout win over Craig McCarthy (8-1-1, 2 KOs).
- In an interesting mismatch, 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Frazer Clark (1-0, 1 KOs) totally obliterated his chubby-looking opponent Jake Darnell (0-1) by a first round knockout. Clark unloaded on Darnell with huge shots, resulting in the contest being halted in the first. With the 6’6″ Clark’s pedigree, you have to wonder why his promoters matched him against such a poor opponent for his pro debut. Surely, he’s able to defeat better opposition than this? The way the 30-year-old Clark is being started out against this type of opposition, suggests we’re going to see a lot more of these mismatches in the future.
- Cruiserweight prospect Viddal Riley (5-0, 2 KOs) beat the always tough 39-year-old journeyman Willbeforce Shihepo (25-14, 18 KOs) by a six round points decision. Riley put Shihepo down in the first round. The score was 60-53.
- Germaine Brown (12-0, 3 KOs) beat English super middleweight champion Charlie Schofield (17-2, 1 KO) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 98-92, 99-92, 98
Preview:
Fans are divided in who will emerge victorious in the Khan-Brook 149-lb catch-weight fight on ESPN+ and Sky Box Office PPV.
With a new training team in the U.S, Khan still possesses the hand speed of a fighter in their 20s, but his punch resistance might not be good enough to carry him to victory if he fails to follow the advice of his coach Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre.
Hatton says Khan vs. Brook is 50-50 fight
“A lot of the fights that have been made lately have been 50-50 fights, and I’m going to sit on the fence and say it’s a 50-50 fight as well,” said Ricky Hatton to Boxing Social on the Khan vs. Brook clash tonight in Manchester.
“It can go a few ways. I think Khan will bank some early rounds with his hand speed and his movement. As long as Kell can get through those early rounds without as much facial damage, he can work Amir and might have a chance down the home stretch.
“Amir Khan, if he’s disciplined, which sometimes he doesn’t do, if he stays disciplined and uses his footwork, he could win it by a mile. And Kell, we all know his punching power, and Amir and Kell can end it at any time. Anything can happen.
“I just think if I were to put my last pounds on it, Amir will win some of the early rounds, and Kell will make him work. Amir will get drawn in like he always does.
“He’ll more than likely get drawn in because he’s a little bit old and not quite as fit and not quite as quick. He’s more than likely to get drawn in, and once he gets down in, Kell might clip him with one.
“I’ve had labs that have sparred with Kell. They said Kell is very, very heavy-handed. Just from that personal experience, that might give me the edge to pick Kell Brook.
“If Amir goes and boxes his head off, it wouldn’t surprise me, but if you’re asking me where to put my money? I think at some point, Kell will tag Amir with one, I think. If Amir is going to win, he’s going to win it on points.
“He’s going to have to keep a disciplined performance. Jab and move and use his footwork the whole rounds and not get drawn in. But you know, maybe Amir can punch hard enough to knock Kell out because obviously, they’re both getting a little bit long in the tooth-ish.
“If you’re asking me, it’s either Khan by points or Brook by knockout,” said Hatton. “I’m not saying Amir is not capable of knocking Kell out, but I think most people would admit that. Amir by points and Kell by knockout, yeah,” said Hatton.
As you can see, Hatton isn’t going out on the limb here with his prediction, but you can’t blame him. It’s a tough one to accurately predict.
Amir Khan (34-5,21 KOs) and Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) finally meet tonight after years of trash-talking at the Manchester Arena in London. Both guys are 35, and it’s likely the end of the road for the loser.
The former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Khan maintains that he’ll continue his career after tonight’s fight regardless of the results, but we’ll see if that’s the case.