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By Charles Brun: Amir Khan says he will finish off Kell Brook’s career next Saturday night for their 149-pound catchweight fight on February 19th at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
There’s a reported 10-lb rehydration clause for this fight, which will likely negatively affect Brook on the day of the battle. Rather than gaining back 15 to 20 lbs overnight after weighing in next Friday, Brook will need to keep his weight down so that he doesn’t go past the 10-lb rehydration.
For Khan, the rehydration limit is less of a concern because he’s not someone that tends to pack on a ton of weight after weighing in for his fights.
In the case of Brook, it could weaken him keeping his weight down until the day of the fight next Saturday night.
Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) says the 35-year-old Brook has already had eye injuries and was beaten.
As such, Khan says he will make sure that he sends the former IBF welterweight champion Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) into retirement in a grand fashion with a nice payday to boot.
Khan says it’s time to finish Brook
“He’s already got smashed up eye sockets, he’s already been beaten, knocked out, this is the time now where I finish his career off, so he never needs to look at boxing again,” said Khan to Sky Sports about Brook.
“This is going to be a nice payday for you, Kell Brook, so you get this payday and walk away, leave the sport happy.”
Well, Brook has already been out of the ring for two years since his fourth round knockout loss to WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford. When you look at Brook’s career, it’s basically over, and he’s just coming back for a payday against Khan.
Even if Brook wins, he’s not going to do much in the 147 or 154-lb divisions. At best, he’ll get a payday against one of the contenders at welterweight in need of a name fighter to add to their resumes, but that’s essentially it for Brook.
“There are no paydays left for you; that’s why you’ve taken it now,” said Brook about Khan.
“It’s a long time coming for me, you’ll see. He gets destroyed, he gets beat like I’ve been telling you for years.
“He’s never wanted this fight; it’s me that wanted this fight for the fans,” said Brook.
Khan is past it and planning on retiring after his fight with Brook. Amir hasn’t fought since 2019 and hasn’t had a serious fight since his loss to Crawford in April 2019, which he lost by a sixth round knockout.
Amir talks 15-20 lb rehydration limit
“The sparring with Terence [Crawford] was amazing. Terence obviously destroyed Kell,” said Khan to Boxing Social. “BoMac is familiar with him [Brook] from that fight, and seeing how that fight went, he knows his flaws.
“I know there’s a 15 or 20-pound limit because Kell likes to get big,” said Khan about the rehydration clause for the day of the fight.
“I know I have to stick to the game plan and do the things I’ve been told to do. This fight is at 149. I’m giving Kell a 2-lb advantage. Obviously, he’s going to carry a little bit more power.
“We have to make sure we give it a good clinical and outbox him clinically. I’ve got to make sure I stick to the game plan.
“BoMac and the team are drilling it in me all the time in training. Everything we do in training is to beat Kell Brook. I’ma fighter and I’ve been in the ring with Canelo and bigger guys,” said Amir when asked if he’s worried about Brook rehydrating a tremendous amount of weight to use it to his advantage.
“With Kell, he’s going to try to come into the ring big,” continued Khan. “What’s going to win this fight is my technique and my skills, really,” Khan said.
If Brook’s punch resistance is impacted because of the rehydration clause, Khan has a chance of knocking him out.
The right hook that Crawford hurt Brook with in their fight in November 2019 was basically a jab in terms of power.
Crawford put nothing on the shot, yet he had Brook badly hurt to the point where he lost his senses completely and covered up in a fetal ball in the fourth round.
Brook was weight-drained for the Crawford fight, having come down from the 154-lb division to take the fight at 147.
Khan plans on taking less risks
“You can’t disrespect him. He’s won a world title,” said Khan when asked where Brook ranks among the best welterweights of this generation. “He’s up there as one of the top ones in our generation.
“He’s fought some decent fighters and beaten some decent fighters as well. I have to make sure that when I fight him, we have trained for the best Kell Brook.
“The Kell Brook that fought Shawn Porter, for example, and we’re going to be fighting that Kell Brook, where he had the power and the speed.
“We’ve not left any stone unturned. With BoMac and the team, we did loads of sparring, and they kind of drilled it into me to listen to them, listen to their instructions for the gameplan,” said Khan when asked how he’ll avoid fighting too aggressively against Brooke as he’s done in the past that has gotten him in trouble.
“Where it comes a time where I do lose my head a little, and I’m getting a little bit older as well. In this time where we had Covid and the time that I was off and away from the gym, it kind of gave me time to think about where do I want to be in life, how do I want to fight and keep on with boxing, and the style I’m going to use?
“One thing I’ve realized is that I’m getting older, and I’m fast, throwing punches, I’ve got to be smart in there when I box. I have to utilize my energy the right way.
“So it made me realize that there are a lot of things I do in fights that are very risky that can cause me a lot of problems.
“If I just stick to my basic style, I’ll be fine, but I just try to do more to make it exciting. I think I have a big heart as well that sometimes gets me in trouble.
“I’m a really ballsy fighter when you don’t really need to at times. Just get the win. That’s why you have to respect Floyd Mayweather.
“He was one of those guys where early in his career he was one of those ballsy fighters, but as he got older, he thought, ‘I’ll just be smart and use my brain and my skills.
“I think that’s what we have to do. I’m getting older now. I’m going to start using a little bit more of my skills, my technique, and my skillset because that’s what’s going to get me the win now.
“I’ve achieved everything I wanted to at 22. I could have retired then. I was happy and content in my life. Obviously, as you get older, you want to do more and more, and you become a prizefighter as well,” said Khan.
It’ll be fun to see if Khan can stay disciplined for the entire fight with Brook without getting greedy and paying a heavy price. In virtually every loss that Khan has suffered as a professional, he’s wrecked his chances of winning by being overaggressive.
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