Brook v Khan: What next for Britain's Most Talked About Non-Fight

Amir Khan, whilst discussing the recent leaking of a certain Skype video, informed ITV1’s This Morning host Phillip Schofield that talks with Kell Brook had broken down after Brook walked away from the potential fight.

As Schofield, and his co-host Holly Willoughby, are more used to discussing showbiz gossip with Rylan Clark-Neal, they may have been totally unaware of the reaction the boxing world would give to this tiny soundbite.

Within seconds Twitter had blown up and the public war of words between Bolton’s Khan and Sheffield’s IBF Champ Brook had erupted once more.

Khan in his interview on ITV claimed that Brook no longer wanted the fight, Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn retorted that Brook indeed didn’t want the fight as Khan was demanding a 70-30 split while Kell Brook assured his twitter followers that he does still want the fight whilst making indirect references to circumstances that had led to Khan being on This Morning in the first place.

The fight between the two men is one that British boxing fans in particular have been crying out for for a few years now. And yet, despite all of the talk, we are still no closer to it coming to fruition.

Much of the talk appears to be around who believes they are the ‘A side’ of the bill. Khan believing that his reputation, particularly across the Atlantic makes him deserving of the lions share, whilst Kell Brook believes that he, as the only one of the two currently in possession of a world title, is the main man.

Many will argue that as the fight mainly appeals to UK fans, Khan’s inactivity on home soil over the last 4 years makes his reputation in the States less important in the negotiations. In fact Khan’s last fight in the UK was on 27th April 2013 in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield. Khan beating Julio Diaz on points on a card that saw Deontay Wilder stop Audley Harrison.

Nobody can deny that in terms of an American audience, Khan who in recent years has shared a ring with the likes of Malignaggi, Danny Garcia and Canelo- all to varying levels of success, is the more well-known of the two. Particularly as since winning the IBF strap against Shawn Porter in 2014, many may feel that Brook has flattered to deceive and has failed to build substantially on his burgeoning reputation. In fact it is the credible defeat to GGG at Middleweight in 2016 that most non UK and casual fans will know Brook for.

So what next for the two fighters if this much desired and much talked about fight can’t be made?

Amir Khan clearly believes that the Brook fight will always be there and he has the scope to take on ‘bigger names’ and come back to the Brook fight later on down the line. But how long will British fans wait for Khan to continue building his reputation in the states, a reputation that is arguably very different from a faltering one back at home?

Brook on the other hand has the difficult mandatory of Errol Spence waiting for him, a fight that many across the pond feel Brook is ducking. Whilst Brook has insisted that he doesn’t want to vacate his title, his promoter Eddie Hearn wants his man to step up to light middleweight after seeing how able he was at middleweight in the preparation for the Golovkin fight.

Wherever these two go next, one thing is for sure the desire to see Brook v Khan (or Khan v Brook) isn’t going to go away.

Let us know what you think is the best option for these two @TheBoxingBanter .

Photo Courtesy of SkySports

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