SATURDAY NIGHT’S BOUT between Amir Khan and Kell Brook is without doubt more than five years overdue. However, while it’s understandable that so many boxing purists have long since become bored of the lengthy negotiations and let-downs during the Northern English boxing rivals’ tetchy saga, I, for one, am still intrigued to see the outcome of their battle at Manchester’s AO Arena.
I have some history with both fighters: In December of 2008, I experienced the worst night of my boxing career after I broke my leg in the first round against Khan.
We shared a main event at London’s ExCel Arena for the WBA International lightweight title, watched by millions live on Sky Sports. I was caught by a chopping right hand to the chin but when I tried to regain my balance, I twisted my ankle, folding my whole lower limb sideward. Bravely, or maybe foolishly, I pretended not to be hurt: I continued to rise, fall, rise — at times stumbling again without actually being hit, simply because I couldn’t keep my balance with a broken fibula.
I fought through the pain but in the second round, revered referee Micky Vann had seen enough. He actually jumped on me, pinning me to the ground to stop me from climbing upward yet again, putting a halt to the unfolding travesty. I suppose he knew me well enough that if he hadn’t hopped on me, my Irish heart would undoubtedly have continued to persuade me aloft for more inevitable punishment.
Terrible disappointment aside, I had just been beaten by the quickest fighter I’d ever faced.
During my career, I fought a few world champions, and had a close split-decision defeat to ‘The Pittsburgh Kid’ Paul Spadafora as well as another razor-thin decision loss against son-of-legend Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. I must say, though: Khan was hands-down the fastest of them all.
Even now, at the grand age of 35, he’s still considered in the highest echelon when it comes to rapid, quickfire punching. This is still the department in which I think he can cause the most trouble for the more flat-footed and stiffer Brook.
Three and a half years after I fought Khan, I accompanied my good friend and former sparring partner, Carson Jones, to the ring in Sheffield, where he fought hometown hero Brook. I helped in the corner alongside Carson’s — and Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin’s — trainer Abel Sanchez, giving me a ringside view of what transpired to be Brook’s toughest test to date.
Jones was losing the fight for the first five rounds, barely throwing a punch. When I asked about his low output, his answer was simply that he was following the “game-plan”, which didn’t make much sense to me because it didn’t leave any wiggle-room whatsoever for an off-round further on in the fight (which would unfortunately become evident when they read aloud the scorecards).
However, Jones started to come out strong in the sixth, badly breaking Brook’s nose in the eighth. If only Carson had started his onslaught earlier, he would have certainly given the Brit his first career loss. Alas, he left it way too late and by the time he started motoring, he was too far behind on the scorecards. In the end, the fight was deemed a close win, on points, for Brook.
That said, it was interesting to see how Kell operated up close. He looked strong and showed good athleticism and grit to power through to the finish. He also seemed to pack a punch — even though his optimum punch power on the night didn’t seem to bother Jones too much. The traits he showed on this particular evening seemed surely indicative of where Brook would rank most dangerously against Khan, his arch rival even then, in 2012.
Up until very recently, Brook had certainly been the one who appeared to be pushing for the fight more and more whereas Khan seemed a little coy, perhaps more business-savvy; he seemed to know that it would happen at one stage or another.
So, Khan was content to pursue other opportunities in the meantime knowing that in the grand scheme of things, talk of a fight with Brook could be reignited at any moment.
Khan, 34-5 (21 KOs), is the bookies’ underdog but in my opinion, he enters this fight as the slight favourite.
Brook has often questioned his nemesis’ courage but as well as routine masterclasses in speed and technique, Khan has also displayed guts and toughness throughout his career — most notably on his way to beating the biggest puncher in his light-welterweight division at the time, two-time former world champion Marcos Maidana, for the WBA super-lightweight strap back in 2010.
To be fair to Khan, he’s always been in exciting fights. He’s liable to get caught by big punchers, just as he was by Canelo and Danny Garcia. But prior to losing in devastating fashion via knockouts from Hell in those two bouts, he gave both opponents a torrid time with his blistering speed.
Brook, on the other hand, had an incredible win over twice world champion Shawn Porter on U.S. soil to become a welterweight world champion in his own right in 2014, but lost hard to pound-for-pound operators Gennady Golovkin (at middleweight) and Errol Spence Jr. in consecutive bouts in 2016 and 2017.
Khan and Brook also shared hard losses against pound-for-pound king Terrence Crawford, though there was no shame in that. In my opinion, Crawford is the bona fide king of the ring — particularly considering that, unlike Canelo, he has never been caught with performance-enhancing substances in his system. Incidentally, Khan has been sparring Crawford in anticipation for this fight, which sounds like fantastic preparation.
I believe we’re in for a classic match-up.
There has been no need for promotional intervention because there is undeniable bad blood between these two athletes. The chat regarding shared sparring sessions in days gone by, especially, has fueled some heated exchanges. Khan vows he boxed the ears off Brook when they last shared a ring behind closed doors, all of 17 years ago. Of course, Brook takes offence to this slight, retorting with verbal jabs and jibes of his own.
Brook, 39-3 (27 KOs), has a good chance in this fight if he uses his strength and starts throwing bombs early. All but one fight that Khan has lost was by way of knockout. Therefore, it’s up to Brook to get inside early and start detonating to the temples and to the top of Khan’s head, as these are the areas identified to having contributed to his demise in past bouts.
That said, I still predict a win for Khan. He’s crisper, classier and a more skillful operator. His mind-blowing speed will cause Brook a minefield of problems.
As I see it, it comes down to this: if Khan can dictate the pace and get involved only in exchanges on his own terms, Brook is in for a hellish night. The risk for Khan is that in some of his other high-profile fights, he has been known to let the occasion get to him, standing and trading rather than boxing. It will take only a nanosecond’s lapse in Khan’s concentration for Brook to capitalise and land a power shot, so Khan needs to be totally rapt on every move he makes.
Of course, this is why Khan fights are so exciting: nobody knows for sure if he’ll be able to keep disciplined enough not to brawl. It tends to be very difficult for Khan to stay out when the crowd is in raucous form. We’ve seen him out-perform high-calibre opponents like Canelo and Garcia before the walls come tumbling down.
So, against his arch rival in a caldron-like atmosphere, it’s imperative for Khan to totally focus for every second of every round if he is to be successful.
Crucially, though, he is capable of it, just as we saw against Maidana apart from a few scary moments. All that’s left, now, is the hard part: putting it all into action.
Oisín Fagan is a retired former world-ranked Irish champion boxer and is currently a boxing development officer for Dublin City Council/the IABA. Fagan has a BSc in Physical Education and concentrations in Politics and Journalism — “so I guess I can write adequately enough despite being punched in the head, repeatedly, with ample force, over a 10-year career.” He is currently seeking a publisher for a book that he has written on his life and career.
Need a publisher for the book I've written. From Dublin, Ireland. Soccer scholarship to USA. Graduated. Fell on hard times. Lived in car. Started boxing professionally (2 titles on 2 diff continent's) also taught elem-school. Many an adventure. Interested publishers? DM 🙏 pic.twitter.com/7Nhbx8TZbf
— Oisín Fagan (@OisinFaganBoxer) August 31, 2021