Grudge match: Brook destroys Khan in 6th round of one-sided fight to end feud in style

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Written in black marker on the hand wraps inside of Kell Brook’s gloves were the words “I told ya.”

Ever since the prospect of a showdown with British countryman Amir Khan was raised more than a decade ago, he always believed he was the better fighter and would show him if they ever fought.

While Khan was the bigger star — he became an instant celebrity in the United Kingdom after his run to a 2004 Olympic silver medal — and had more notable accomplishments, including unifying world titles at junior welterweight and being involved in many major fights, Brook was seemingly always a step behind.

Although Brook won a welterweight world title, he was never as well known or as popular as Khan. Didn’t make the kind of big money as him and didn’t have as many significant names on his resume, win or lose.

Through the years promoters tried to make a fight between them and time and again it didn’t happen. They bickered over money, weight, billing, you name it, and the war or words continued.

But finally, with neither having anywhere else to go in the twilight of their fading careers for a major fight, upstart promoter Ben Shalom of Boxxer got them to sign on the dotted line for a fight long past when it truly would have been meaningful in terms of titles and even pound-for-pound status.

But while neither man was close to what he was at his best, they both let it all hang out in the long-awaited and overdue grudge match, which Brook won by sixth-round knockout as he laid a one-sided beating on Khan on Saturday before a sold-out crowd of about 22,000 at AO Arena in Manchester, England.

“They won’t remember all of my fights, they’ll just remember me fighting Amir Khan,” Brook said. “No disrespect to Amir, but it felt so easy in there. I’m happy the chapter has closed on Amir Khan now. This is the icing on the cake in my career. I can feel at peace knowing I’ve beaten him.”

Brook had predicted the outcome on his hand wraps and delivered as he said he would. He did not knock Khan down, but inflicted damage on him throughout the fight, which was contracted at 149 pounds, technically a junior middleweight bout two pounds above the welterweight limit.

“It was just a matter of time until I got him outta there,” Brook said. “What a feeling. What a turnout. Those are the fights I wanted to be involved in when I walked into the gym when I was a kid, to be in them big fights like that, bragging rights. And I’m back on top now. I took Amir Khan out like I said I was going to do.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself. I did believe it but we still had to get in there. But I always knew since we were 18 I was a better fighter than him. He had the push from the promoters behind him because he went and won silver in the Olympics. But I’ve always known (I was better).”

The quicker Khan got off to a good start with a dazzling display of speed and movement in the first two minutes of the fight but it was all downhill after that when Brook rocked Khan with a right hand and then a right uppercut in the final minute of the opening round.

“I took Amir Khan out like I said I was going to do.” — Kell Brook

Khan’s legs betrayed him as he wobbled and he could never fully get himself together. His legs were unsteady throughout the bout as Brook relentlessly fired right hands and walked directly to Khan, almost daring him to try to unload.

Khan (34-6, 21 KOs), 35, idle since a July 2019 victory, was having a very good third round until Brook (40-3, 28 KOs), 35, turned it on in the final 30 seconds and shook him again with a right hand during an onslaught of power shots.

Brook, who had not fought since a fourth-round knockout loss to WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford in November 2020, also had a big fifth round. He landed many head shots and Khan looked like he might go down from any punch. His balance was gone as his legs continually betrayed him.

It was more of the same in the sixth round as Brook continually hurt Khan with right hands and uppercuts. When he forced him to the ropes and was blasting away referee Victor Loughlin finally stepped in to end the beating at 51 seconds, sending Brook into a jubilant celebration with trainer Dominic Ingle and the rest of his team.

To prepare for the rivalry fight, Khan had enlisted trainer Brian McIntyre, who had led Crawford to a knockout of Khan in an April 2019 title defense. Khan trained with McIntyre and Crawford in Colorado Springs and their hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. He said it was a great camp, but it did not manifest in the ring.

“I’m very upset,” Khan said. “All the training I did in camp over in Colorado and then Omaha, Nebraska. Jut couldn’t get it going, you know? I was falling a little bit short (with my punches). No disrespect to Kell Brook. I think he put on a great performance, did everything he needed to do in the fight. Obviously was the better man tonight.

“I was catching Kell with some good shots. He was falling a little short on a few things as well. It’s my own fault. I’m not blaming anyone. I had a great, great training camp with ‘Bomac’ and Terence Crawford. I just couldn’t get going. I was falling short and missing quite a lot (of punches). At the end of the day, Kell was on his ‘A’ game today. He boxed really well. Respect goes out to him.”

After the fight was over, Brook and Khan seemed to bury their feud, chatting and patting each other on the back in the ring.

“I’ve always had respect for him but when I don’t get it back for years it’s hard to like someone who’s dissing you,” Brook said. “But I take my hat off to him for taking them shots and still trying to hang in there. That’s where the respect comes. He took some good shots, so I respect him for that. I’ve heard he’s a nice kind of guy. He says we can get a coffee after. If we do or not that’s a different thing.”

Both fighters might retire, but Brook sounded a lot more like he would fight on than Khan did.

“I think that’s maybe a sign for me that I should be calling it a day.” — Amir Khan

“I can walk away,” Brook said, before mentioning somebody he’d like to fight.

“I don’t like (Chris) Eubank (Jr.). We could fight Eubank,” Brook said of his middleweight countryman. “There’s some big fights out there for me. If the millions are right I’ll fight because I’m a prize fighter.”

For Khan, it is more likely the end of the road and he knows it.

“Forty fights, a lot of fights, winning two world titles, fighting in America and around the world. I need to sit down with my family, but I think it’s more toward the end of my career,” Khan said. “That love of the sport is not there anymore like it was before. When I was in the ring before I used to have that excitement and that push but I didn’t have it in me. I felt quite flat. I think that’s maybe a sign for me that I should be calling it a day. But let’s see.

“I’m gonna go back, watch the video. Kell obviously came trained. He looked really, really good and he was ready. It’s very hard to beat a guy who just wants to win. I had a great training camp but he must have had a bit better than me. So let’s see where we go from here.”

In one of the undercard bouts, British heavyweight Frazer Clarke, who claimed a super heavyweight bronze medal at this past summer’s delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, won his professional debut by easy first-round knockout.

Clarke (1-0, 1 KO), 30, battered late replacement Jake Darnell (0-1), also of England, around the ring until referee John Latham stopped it when Darnell’s corner threw in the towel with him under heavy fire at 2 minute, 6 seconds.

Abdullaev stops Linares

After a bit of a slow start, Zaur Abdullaev scored two 12th-round knockdowns and then stopped Jorge Linares in their WBC semifinal lightweight title eliminator in Abdullaev’s hometown of Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Abdullaev clipped Linares with a left hook for the first knockdown, then dropped him again with another hook moments later. Linares beat the count but after the second knockdown, Abdullaev backed him to the ropes and was teeing off, prompting the referee to stop it at 2 minutes, 28 seconds.

Abdullaev (15-1, 8 KOs), 27, notched the biggest victory of his career as he won his fourth fight in a row since a fourth-round knockout loss to Devin Haney for the vacant WBC interim lightweight belt in September 2019 in New York.

Venezuela’s Linares (47-7, 29 KOs), 36, a former three-division world titlist, was coming off a unanimous decision loss challenging now-full full titleholder Haney last May in Las Vegas and was in his first fight since parting ways with longtime promoter Golden Boy.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer

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