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Kell Brook – Amir Khan Feud Continues!

brook-khan-british-boxing_3193298By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

“I think he is a depleted fighter at 147, he is a much better fighter at 154.”—Eddie Hearn

Such was the view of Eddie Hearn after the full breakdown of the fight between his fighter and the guy to whom he was referencing, Kell Brook, 36-1, 25 KO’s and Amir Khan, 31-4, 19 KO’s. Following Brook’s tussle with “GGG”, there is little doubt that most think he should stay up at middleweight and the fight with Khan should probably be his last hurrah at welterweight – if it ever happens.

This is a fight we have all been hoping and praying that would be made but the split has been the major breaking point for negotiations between Khan’s team and Hearn.

Matchroom, under Eddie Hearn believe a 50/50 split with Brook’s world title at 147 on the line is fair. The £30 Million valued Khan thinks 70/30 split is fairer as he is the bigger draw. With that space between them, the negotiations were over in a matter of minutes at the final meeting and an amicable withdrawal of promoters happened.

Then we got the Twitter spat…

Brook has gone for Khan whilst Khan has responded in kind. It ended with Khan showing his gauche mentality by showing his value whilst Brook showed a picture of him on his back on the canvass in the Canelo fight. It was a great thing to watch but is just the tip of the iceberg for Khan and the problems he is facing, not just in the ring, but also at home.

Khan needs to find a decent fight to deflect the attention away from his antics and the current Tsunami of criticism over his lack of morality, some might also claim class, in his personal life. Battling back from surgery, Hearn has opined that he thinks Khan needs a warm up fight to ensure the surgery Khan has gone through has been successful. He thinks that might be a factor in negotiations stalling.

For Khan, he thinks that Brook is mad not to take the 70/30 split as it would see Brook earn more than he did form the “GGG” fight; Hearn disagrees.

As he starts to rebuild his career and reputation, following the defeat to Canelo there are not a lot of options out there for Khan. He needs to have a successful 2017 or he will become a forgotten man. The irony, of course, is that he was winning against Canelo and probably at his best before losing concentration, getting clipped and going down.

His fight in the courts to stop the matter of his private life getting out into the public domain has further damaged him. A devout Muslim, it has brought a tremendous amount of embarrassment to him which has added to the feud that exists between his wife and his family which further causes him trouble.

His wife, a very successful fashion designer, has modeled and worn her fashion publicly. It is a provocation to the faith of Khan’s family and they have been publicly very critical. Some of the exchanges have been difficult to fathom as it has taken a very private matter and thrown it right into the realms of the highly public; not something you would associate within their private communities.

As a background, it was already intriguing, what came next took it to another level…

When the media got wind of a sex scandal involving a high-profile boxing figure, you can imagine how that was going to play out; they wanted to publish full details. It led to that figure taking them to court as rumours began to surface. It was speculated over who it was likely to be and whilst the boxing media paid little or no heed, the major media were desperate to fight and win the right to publish; and so, they did.

Khan has now been named as the guilty party and the once poster boy of British Muslim hood is shamed as a man who would perform internet sex acts whilst married. The fact that these acts date to times close to both his wedding and the birth of one of his children has made the entire episode both more seedy and for some, much more newsworthy.

Despite the fight within his family and the fight he has had with the media, Khan still believes that his overall worth allows him to fight the good fight to dictate terms over his next fight. It is clear, I believe, that whether he goes for a tune up first or not, Khan does need this fight a little more than Brook. Brook shall face a mandatory first now, should he stay at welterweight and then be sitting pretty as 2017 goes on. I think Brook may well then be the guy offering new 70/30 terms that Khan may feel forced to accept.

By then he will also be in the driving seat over at what weight the fight will take place and by then Khan may just be an option amongst many others. We know that Brook’s shattered eye socket has also to be tested in battle so speculation, the meat and drink of us all, is rife…

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