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Amir Khan and Kell Brook, two former world welterweight champions, will square off on February 19th at the Manchester Arena in Manchester in a fight that many agree should have taken place at least six years ago.
However, with both boxers now having very few options in their careers, Britain will now get the fight that it has wanted to see for a long time. Brook’s record currently stands at 39-3 with 27 KO’s while Khan is now 34-5 with 21 KO’s. There is an above average chance that a knockout could take place in this one. But who will be the one to go? I don’t think the answer is as simple as it may sound.
While Khan is famous for hitting the deck many times throughout his career, the way Terence Crawford easily dispatched Brook in 2020 was a little startling. Crawford is up there as one of boxing’s current pound for pound boxers. But the easiness in which he managed to get Brook out of there could suggest that the Sheffield boxer cannot take a decent punch anymore. Khan does not have concussive power. Though he certainly has enough to end Brook if his oponent’s punch resistance has diminished enough.
Analyzing Crawford’s own power, admittedly he is currently leading by a nine knockout streak, his latest victim being Shawn Porter who recently announced his retirement. Looking back over the years, Brook has managed to hang in with some of the welterweight division’s strongest punchers including Shawn Porter in the past. And that leads me to my next point! I am certain that particular weight class cannot serve Kell well anymore. Weight issues were blamed for his defeat to Errol Spence Jr. Crawford dispatching him so early and easily also makes me wonder if weight is an issue. And now him and Khan have agreed to face one another at a catchweight of 149lb. I think that is a sensible choice on Kell’s part.
But will it be enough? I don’t think so. But that is for a reason that you may not expect.
I think that the work rate of the Bolton boxer will be too much for his rival. Kell cannot cope well under pressure. We have seen that when he has competed against the likes of Carson Jones. I, myself, do not even think that he deserved the nod against Porter! But I may find myself in the minority on that one.
Unless Brook finds a spectacular counter punch, which is definitely possible, then I can only see Khan’s work rate, pressure and Brook’s diminished punch resistance being the things that forces him to watch Amir getting his arm raised at the end.
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