Notebook: Khan, Brook finally meet; loser will be haunted 'for a very long time'
Valdez-Stevenson set; GGG update; Quick hits; Show and tell
A quick note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: If you have upgraded to a paid subscription, thank you! If you have not, please consider doing so to receive the most content. A paid subscription is also your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism.
Longtime bitter rivals Amir Khan and Kell Brook, each near the end of their career, both believe they have at least one more big night left in them to vanquish the other as they finally settle their years-long war of words.
After several attempts to make the fight failed over the years, they will finally square off in a 12-round bout at a catch weight of 149 pounds on Saturday (ESPN+ in U.S., Sky Box Office in U.K., 1 p.m. ET) at sold-out AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Neither man is in his prime. Neither has had a big win in years. Both suffered their last loss by knockout challenging WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford. To many, the Khan-Brook pairing is a fight way past its sell-by date. However, the British public is clearly still enthusiastic about the match, which sold out the arena in about an hour, and is expected to generate robust pay-per-view numbers in the United Kingdom.
The boxers have talked plenty during the buildup to the fight and they got one more chance in front of all the cameras and microphones at their fight-week news conference on Thursday, where they sounded as amped up for the fight as any they have had.
“It’s a big thing for us both,” Khan said. “If either of us lose, it’s something that will haunt us for a very long time. That’s the reason I’ve trained so hard. I’ve done everything I’ve needed to because I know I can’t lose this fight.”
Khan and Brook don’t agree on much, but they do agree the fight has personal significance.
“This means so much to me,” Brook said. “This fight’s been talked about for many, many years. You’re going to see the condition and the hard work I’ve put in. I’m ready for 12 hard rounds. I’m ready to put a show on for the fans.”
They badly want to beat the other. There may not be any title belt on the line or any relevance to pound-for-pound or divisional rankings. Instead, it is about pride, lifetime satisfaction and bragging rights.
“I’m worried about Kell’s health after the beating I’m gonna be giving him,” Khan said. “It’ll be something he’s never had before. We are gonna definitely put him in his place. It’s been a very long time. Ten years (this rivalry has) been going on. This is my time now to put him in his place.
“I’m gonna hurt him and he’s gonna be put in his place. I’m going to shut him up for good. Something he’s going to remember for a very long time.
“I’m very excited. This is a massive fight for me, my 40th fight. It has to be one of the biggest fights of my career. Winning world titles is one thing, going to America was my dream and I did that, but this fight means a lot to me and my career. I think Kell’s always been very obsessed with my career, like a fanboy. That’s the honest truth. I’ve been living in his head for such a long time. I think it’s more jealousy than anything.”
Brook was equally as intense.
“I don’t like him, he don’t like me, we’re going to see an excellent fight,” Brook said. “It goes back to the amateur days. He used to win championships at his weight and I was the one above. He did what he did in the Olympics (a silver medal in 2004). We always got promised we would fight down the line. But he said he didn’t even know who I was. He’s never given me that respect.
“He’s definitely gonna sleep Saturday night when I smash him. After Saturday, nobody’s going to be interested (in Khan). He can go to Dubai and do his thing, that’s the end of it. We’re going to get a knockout. He’s going on his face or back, either way.”
The fight is the culmination of excellent careers for both men.
Khan (34-5, 21 KOs), 35, is a former unified junior welterweight titlist and was a longtime welterweight contender. He has faced many top opponents, including Canelo Alvarez, Crawford, Devon Alexander, Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Zab Judah, Marcos Maidana and Marco Antonio Barrera. But he has also been stopped in four of his five losses, some by brutal knockout.
Two fights ago, in April 2019, Khan got dropped in the first round and stopped in the sixth round challenging Crawford in a one-sided fight. Khan is going by the old adage “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
For this fight, Khan is being trained by Crawford trainer Brian McIntyre. Khan also worked with Crawford during the camp and Crawford has made the trip to England to support him.
“We’ve gone back to the drawing board, changed my whole training camp, and that’s why I joined Team BoMac and Team Crawford,” Khan said. “I needed that motivation and that push. The only people who could do that for me was this team. Knowing this will be one of the biggest fights in Britain gives you that motivation as well.”
McIntyre said whatever happens in the fight, Khan gave his all in training.
“He pushed it in camp, he grinded it out,” McIntyre said. “He didn’t complain one time. We went through four, five, maybe six sparring partners. I pushed him and pushed him so I could hear him say, ‘I quit,’ and he never said it. He just kept going and me and the team are proud of him.”
Brook (39-3, 27 KOs), 35, is a former welterweight world titlist, whose biggest win came when he traveled to Carson, California, and dethroned Shawn Porter in 2014.
He would eventually lose the title to Errol Spence by knockout. Each of his three defeats are by knockout, including in a middleweight title challenge against Gennadiy Golovkin in 2016 and a fourth-round knockout to Crawford in his last fight in November 2020.
Brook’s trainer, Dominic Ingle, said he was surprised Khan accepted the fight.
“To be honest, I’m surprised Amir’s actually taken the fight,” Ingle said. “In the position he’s in, he’s a bit of a celebrity, a bit of a superstar. It’s not really a fight he needed to do. It’s not really going to benefit him apart from the money. He’s got more to lose than he has to gain. We can’t actually believe he’s turned up.
“The bookies are with Kell. The odds aren’t very good to bet on Kell because he’s the favorite. I wouldn’t have taken the fight if I was Khan. Khan is a very good talker. I love listening to him. I love it. But on the night there’s not going to be any talking. It’s just down to who wins, who punches the hardest, who’s got something left. I believe Kell’s got more left in the tank than Amir Khan.”
Valdez-Stevenson official
Top Rank on Thursday formally announced the expected junior lightweight unification fight between WBC titleholder Oscar Valdez and WBO titleholder Shakur Stevenson, both unbeaten former featherweight titleholders and Olympians.
The two best 130-pounders in the world will meet in a highly anticipated bout on April 30 (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The winner will be the first unified junior lightweight titleholder since Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera outpointed Robbie Peden in September 2005 to unify the WBC and IBF belts.
“Oscar Valdez and Shakur Stevenson are the world's best junior lightweights. The fans and the fighters demanded this matchup, and we are proud to deliver it live on ESPN for no extra charge,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “The winner becomes a superstar, and I know both men will rise to challenge.”
Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs), 24, a southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, and 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, claimed the vacant WBO interim title by shutout decision over South Africa’s Jeremia Nakathila on June 12 in Las Vegas and then turned in a brilliant performance to take the full title from Jamel Herring by one-sided 10th-round knockout on Oct. 23 in Atlanta. All along, he wanted Valdez.
“I have been chasing this fight for nearly three years since we were both at featherweight,” Stevenson said. “On April 30, I’m going to show him and the world why he ducked me all this time. I’m the best young fighter in the world, and I will become unified champion.”
Valdez is also out to prove he is No. 1.
"I want to make it clear that I am the best 130-pound fighter in the world,” Valdez said. “We know Shakur Stevenson is very good at fighting, but he's even better at social media. I'll let my fists speak for themselves.”
Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs), 31, a 2008 and 2012 Mexican Olympian, was a big underdog but dominated and spectacularly knocked out Miguel Berchelt in the 10th round last February in Las Vegas to win the WBC title. He won a disputed decision in his first defense against amateur rival and 2016 Brazilian Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao on Sept. 10 in Tucson, Arizona, where Valdez grew up.
The fight with Conceicao was engulfed in controversy because Valdez was permitted to fight due to a technicality even though he returned a positive drug test for a banned stimulant. The fight with Stevenson will have Voluntary Anti-Doping Association testing beginning March 5, a source with knowledge of the schedule told Fight Freaks Unite. The source also said that Valdez has already been in VADA’s random testing pool for the past six months.
Quick hits
Gennadiy Golovkin this week offered an update on his delayed middleweight title unification fight with Ryota Murata, which was scheduled for December in Murata’s home country of Japan but postponed because of surging Covid-19 cases there that caused the government stop allowing foreigners into the country. “Happy to be back at training camp and to see my team,” GGG wrote on social media. “Hope that a date for the unification fight with Ryota Murata rescheduled for early April will be announced soon. I'm looking forward to traveling to Japan and to more BIG things in 2022.” If GGG wins, it likely will mean a third fight with rival Canelo Alvarez in September.
Cruiserweight king Mairis Breidis (28-1, 20 KOs), 37, of Latvia, has come down with Covid-19, forcing a postponement of his second IBF title against Jai Opetaia (21-0, 17 KOs), a 26-year-old southpaw. It had been scheduled for April 6 in Gold Coast, Australia, Opetaia’s home country. “Unfortunately, he got ill,” promoter Kalle Sauerland of Wasserman Boxing told Fight Freaks Unite. Sauerland said the fight would only be delayed a few weeks and that Opetaia promoter Dean Lonergan is working on a new date.
Lightweight Jamaine Oritz (14-0-1, 8 KOs) was 134.25 pounds and Nahir Albright (14-1, 7 KOs) was 134 pounds at Thursday’s weigh-in for their 10-round main event on Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” on Friday (9 p.m. ET) at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. Junior middleweight Paul Kroll (9-0, 6 KOs) was 152.5 pounds and Marquis Taylor (12-1-1, 1 KO) was 151.75 for the eight-round junior middleweight co-feature. Kroll was a half pound over the contract weight but the camps agreed to fight anyway. It was supposed to be a tripleheader but the original super middleweight co-feature matching Joe George and Sean Hemphill was canceled because Hemphill suffered a rib injury last week.
The rematch between WBC strawweight titlist Panya Pradabsri (37-1, 23 KOs), 30, and former titlist Wanheng Menayothin (55-1, 19 KOs), 36, which was initially scheduled for Jan. 25 and then rescheduled for March 1, has been moved again. It is slated for March 29 on the grounds of city hall in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand, the home country of both fighters, according to the WBC. Pradabsri narrowly outpointed Menayothin in November 2020 to end his long title reign. He held the 105-pound belt from 2014 to 2021 and made 14 successful defenses before Pradabsri notched the upset.
Show and tell
The intense and bitter rivalry between Hall of Famers Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, two of the best in Mexican boxing history, produced one of the most thrilling and legendary trilogies ever. They meet three times between 2000 and 2004 with each bout a world title fight in an increasingly heavier weight class: junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight. All three bouts were outstanding and the first and third bouts were picked as the fight of the year. Their first iconic showdown was a long-awaited battle. They met to unify junior featherweight titles in the main event of a one-fight HBO “Boxing After Dark” telecast that kicked off the fifth year of that great series at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The expectations were for an all-out slugfest and Morales and Barrera delivered in a massive way, putting on a fight for the ages nobody will ever forget. The fifth round was picked the round of the year. Barrera was credited with a questionable knockdown in the 12th round, but Morales prevailed by controversial split decision. The fight was on Feb. 19, 2000 — 22 years ago on Saturday. Here are two items in my collection from the bout: an extraordinarily rare (quite possibly one of a kind) glossy cardboard site poster that was on display at Mandalay Bay during fight week and is signed by Barrera and the program, which is in Spanish and English and quite scarce.
Khan-Brook photo: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer
To upgrade your subscription please go here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
Brook was too big and too much for Khan.