Years and years of bad blood has led up to this
After years and years of bitter feuds, Amir Khan and Kell Brook finally meet in the ring at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night.
The two fighters have had prestigious careers in their own respective ways, winning endless belts between them, but this meeting between them two will mean more than any other fight has for them.
Why? Because the two genuinely don’t like each other.
It’s not just some short-term rivalry either, this has been a rivalry which stems all the way back to their earliest days in boxing. But how did it all begin?
How did the rivalry start?
You need to go back to some 17 years ago to where it all started. Â The rivalry was born when Khan was selected ahead of Brook for Team GB’s olympic squad in Athens, 2004 – with the former going on to win a silver medal and becoming an overnight success.
Meanwhile Brook was not so fortunate and had to find success the hard way, building from the bottom to get to the top of the ranks.
The two regularly sparred each other when part of the England camps ahead of Olympic squad selection, however Brook has always believed that his style of boxing was not appreciated by those picking who to take on the team.
That incident alone sparked off an intense rivalry which, until tonight (Saturday), has yet to be resolved.
Reuniting at welterweight
Both fighters went their separate ways before eventually being reunited in 2014 after Khan made the decision to move up a weight division to welterweight – the same year Brook went on to win the division’s IBF title with an emphatic performance against Shawn Porter.
The two did have talks to try and arrange a fight between each other, but were unable to reach an agreement – with Brook claiming that Khan was more interested in a potential fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Taking a chance at middleweight
The two faced their biggest tests of their careers as they took the bold decision to move up to the middleweight class with Khan taking on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Brook Gennady Golovkin.
Neither fighter was able to beat their opponent and the pair both dropped back down to welterweight level, which in turn, instigated talks over a possible bout against the two.
But, just like last time, they were unable to come to an agreement – with promoter Eddie Hearn revealing that Khan had turned down the offer of a 50/50 split.
Khan himself defended this claim, posting on Twitter: “Eddie I’m the A side and you and Kell know he will make more than he did against [Gennady Golovkin]. I offered more as a guarantee so forget the percentage.”
Meanwhile Brook responded by labelling Khan as a “media whore” in a brutal response.
“He is a media whore, he wants it. I think he’s after a big-money fight and he knows he would get done in, but he doesn’t mind getting done in for money.”
Matchroom boxing and finally coming to an agreement
Two years later in 2018, Khan made the decision to join Matchroom Boxing – the same promotional company Brook was a part of.
Once again, speculation arose that the two may finally meet in the ring but yet again, it wasn’t to be as Khan opted to fight Terence Crawford. In an attempt to win the WBO title, Khan was beaten after he and his team chose to withdraw during the fight.
Both Khan and Brook were in danger of fizzling out of the boxing world without a whimper until they were both approached by BOXXER.
The two then went head-to-head during a press conference in November, 2021 as the long-awaited fight between the two was finally announced.
Both Khan and Brook have exchanged a war of words with each other ever since then, but the time for talking is over as the two will finally have the chance to settle all their bad blood with each other and claim the ultimate bragging rights in one of the most anticipated fights of the year.
Related links:
- Khan and Brook exchange homophobic slurs during heated press conference
- Amir Khan goes full Disney villain in ‘Gloves Are Off’ show with Kell Brook
- Disgusting moment Kell Brook’s trainer downs glass of the boxer’s sweat
