Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook | ESPN - February 19, 2022

[Bard of Boxrec]

Khan would have loved to have fried some fish but unfortunately he left his, rod, bait, tackle, lures, bobbers, sinkers, and various other useful equipment at home

[Thomastearns]

Khan looked real nervous and scared going out into the ring.

As if it had finally dawned on him that maybe Brook wasn't finished after all.

As if he should have insisted on dragging Brook down to 147lbs instead of just having the £100,000 penalty per any extra pound over 149.

Those 2 extra pounds seemed to spare Brook some dangerous weight cutting.

Kell Brook was doing really well against both Crawford and Spence before the stoppages. The one against Crawford looked so unusual for Brook who was winning up till that point and had previously taken GGGs best shots.

I think it's pretty clear that Kell Brook should not fight at 147 again.

As for Khan he once again fought the wrong fight with no plan b. It was always going to be hard resisting getting in close and keeping it at distance as he was probably advised to. Brook did cut the ring off well but whatever happened to Khan's jab?

A very brave performance by Amir Khan and the stoppage was not a moment too late.

[DrDuke]

As for Khan he once again fought the wrong fight with no plan b. It was always going to be hard resisting getting in close and keeping it at distance as he was probably advised to. Brook did cut the ring off well but whatever happened to Khan's jab?

I guess, he's just too fragile. Aged and with his reflexes fading, it's much harder for him to hide his glassjaw.

[Foggy]

Surely Khan was only after PBF and Pac for the pay day, he would have been demolished by both

[Ruthless-RKO]

Surely Khan was only after PBF and Pac for the pay day, he would have been demolished by both

Deep down was probably the same reason Brook was after Khan. It was always a big money fight for him.

[ewenhay]

Except Brook would always have demolished Khan

[bjornborgbook]

Khan ducked Brook. He made it seem like Brook was beneath him and less talented. He used chasing those big names as one of his primary duck excuses. Khan pretended that he was too good for Brook and it would be easy work, but if that was true why not just do it for the easy payday? Brook was always better than Khan but Khan cheated Brook out of that extra level of stardom and status. Now finally Brook has accomplished it by brutally beating up the guy who ducked and mocked and teased him for all those years.

[Ruthless-RKO]

CompuBox Stats

[ironbeard]

If you go back to the weigh-in and watch and listen to the face off, it was clear that Khan knew he was done for.

I do not normally give much weight to final pressers and weigh-ins but over the last couple of weeks they have sent clear messages about future outcomes. The Jacobs v Ryder final presser made clear that Danny knew the future score.

Both of those examples should give significant pause to those who bet on fights. It makes me suspicious about the timing of the Brook v Khan stoppage (not a stoppage itself).

[adislav123]

khan was done in, simple as that.

he was on wobbly legs, covering up against the ropes, crouched down & not throwing back anything of note.

he just wasn't able to defend himself properly anymore.

i doubt he would've made it into the seventh, if so his corner would've taken him out anyways.

kell was headhunting looking to take his head off clean & send him to sleep, maybe even to hospital.

as a ref you don't have to let that happen if the fighter is clearly finished just to please the blood lusty crowd.

correct stoppage from the ref.

[oogiebe]

khan was done in, simple as that.

he was on wobbly legs, covering up against the ropes, crouched down & not throwing back anything of note.

he just wasn't able to defend himself properly anymore.

i doubt he would've made it into the seventh, if so his corner would've taken him out anyways.

kell was headhunting looking to take his head off clean & send him to sleep, maybe even to hospital.

as a ref you don't have to let that happen if the fighter is clearly finished just to please the blood lusty crowd.

correct stoppage from the ref.

100%

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Enlightened-One]

The first round of the fight was pretty exciting.

Even though Brook won that round and hurt Khan a couple of times, Amir landed a few good punches that very briefly appeared to make Kell look uncomfortable.

However, it was clear from the get-go that Khan’s resilience was gone and his complaining to the referee over an innocuous incident after only the first minute suggested he wasn’t coping very well with Brook’s tactics and power.

Brook lost the second round due to not throwing enough shots. Fighters don’t win rounds on my scorecards for stalking without letting their hands go.

And Khan also won most of the third round and only lost it at the very last-minute, after being rocked by a late barrage by Brook.

From that point onwards, the writing was on the wall. It was one-way traffic.

Khan was in survival mode and doing his most to keep out of harm’s way.

He was too scared to exchange and often threw combos that were out of range. Any ambition that Amir had to win the fight had completely evaporated.

That said, the stoppage was premature in my eyes, but I can understand the reason why the ref made that decision.

Amir wasn’t being competitive. He wasn’t landing any of his shots. And one could argue that he was also defensively irresponsible.

In terms of what’s next for Kell Brook?

I think he should retire, because I can’t see him being competitive against Conor Benn or Chris Eubank Jr.

The Brook-Khan bout reminded me of the Bellew-Haye rematch, whereby one badly faded fighter dominated a totally shot has-been opponent.

But Benn or Eubank Jr. will do to Brook what Usyk did to Bellew – Kell will only be very briefly competitive against those guys, before getting destroyed in brutal fashion.

[Bandog]

The first round of the fight was pretty exciting.

Even though Brook won that round and hurt Khan a couple of times, Amir landed a few good punches that very briefly appeared to make Kell look uncomfortable.

However, it was clear from the get-go that Khan’s resilience was gone and his complaining to the referee over an innocuous incident after only the first minute suggested he wasn’t coping very well with Brook’s tactics and power.

Brook lost the second round due to not throwing enough shots. Fighters don’t win rounds on my scorecards for stalking without letting their hands go.

And Khan also won most of the third round and only lost it at the very last-minute, after being rocked by a late barrage by Brook.

From that point onwards, the writing was on the wall. It was one-way traffic.

Khan was in survival mode and doing his most to keep out of harm’s way.

He was too scared to exchange and often threw combos that were out of range. Any ambition that Amir had to win the fight had completely evaporated.

That said, the stoppage was premature in my eyes, but I can understand the reason why the ref made that decision.

Amir wasn’t being competitive. He wasn’t landing any of his shots. And one could argue that he was also defensively irresponsible.

In terms of what’s next for Kell Brook?

I think he should retire, because I can’t see him being competitive against Conor Benn or Chris Eubank Jr.

The Brook-Khan bout reminded me of the Bellew-Haye rematch, whereby one badly faded fighter dominated a totally shot has-been opponent.

But Benn or Eubank Jr. will do to Brook what Usyk did to Bellew – Kell will only be very briefly competitive against those guys, before getting destroyed in brutal fashion.

Who do you think won the "mental fight"?

[adislav123]

i don't & never did get the impression of brook being shot.

he surely & naturally is a couple of years removed from his absolute peak prime but he's in exceptional shape.

the man was never off his feet in 40 fights ffs.

he looked like fvcking beast on saturday and wasn't even fully rehydrated.

the man is far from finished.

at 147 or 155 with full rehydration i wouldn't write him off against anybody.

i think he'd wipe the floor with benn jr. and outbox and clearly win on points vs. eubanks jr. at 160.

[Bard of Boxrec]

I’m actually amazed at khan’s post fight presser, that’s as gracious a loss as you’ll ever see from a boxer

How often do you see a guy after losing say ‘we did everything right in the build up but I lost to the better guy’

I can’t really think of one off the top of my head

[Ruthless-RKO]

I’m actually amazed at khan’s post fight presser, that’s as gracious a loss as you’ll ever see from a boxer

How often do you see a guy after losing say ‘we did everything right in the build up but I lost to the better guy’

I can’t really think of one off the top of my head

He’s shown good character for sure. Even Brook. He wasn’t exactly bragging about the win either.

[Enlightened-One]

I’m actually amazed at khan’s post fight presser, that’s as gracious a loss as you’ll ever see from a boxer

How often do you see a guy after losing say ‘we did everything right in the build up but I lost to the better guy’

I can’t really think of one off the top of my head

He’s shown good character for sure. Even Brook. He wasn’t exactly bragging about the win either.

He did say the win was easy and there were a couple of other small things Brook said that suggested he’s still very resentful of Khan despite his win.

[Enlightened-One]

Apparently Khan earned roughly $7m from Saturday’s defeat.

That’s not such a bad retirement payday cheque.

[ewenhay]

I’m actually amazed at khan’s post fight presser, that’s as gracious a loss as you’ll ever see from a boxer

How often do you see a guy after losing say ‘we did everything right in the build up but I lost to the better guy’

I can’t really think of one off the top of my head

He’s shown good character for sure. Even Brook. He wasn’t exactly bragging about the win either.

He did say the win was easy and there were a couple of other small things Brook said that suggested he’s still very resentful of Khan despite his win.

It was easy.

[TempleSlave]

Nope, that’s just stupid!

Elaborate pumpkin

I think Khan wanted to continue.

He probably would have lost to Brook anyway, but there weren’t any facial indications of him pleading with the referee to stop the fight.

You can show me the video of Khan begging the ref to stop the fight if you disagree.

I said "body language" by which I purely mean "my impression" - of course it was subjective. However, he was not throwing any punches and was getting beaten up, badly. Ref made the right decision and I have zero problems with it. Khan's chances were close to zero and his chances for severe brain damage were high.

[Enlightened-One]

Elaborate pumpkin

I think Khan wanted to continue.

He probably would have lost to Brook anyway, but there weren’t any facial indications of him pleading with the referee to stop the fight.

You can show me the video of Khan begging the ref to stop the fight if you disagree.

I said "body language" by which I purely mean "my impression" - of course it was subjective. However, he was not throwing any punches and was getting beaten up, badly. Ref made the right decision and I have zero problems with it. Khan's chances were close to zero and his chances for severe brain damage were high.

We mostly agree.

But suggesting that Khan psychologically quit is wrong, when even you concede there’s no facial proof of him pleading the referee to stop the fight.

You’re entitled to dislike Khan, but you’re being dishonest to suggest he quit, simply because he was getting beaten up.

Have you ever seen Gatti-Ward?

A lot of fighters get hurt and don’t want to be “rescued”, even if they’re on the receiving end of a pummelling.

[KiwiRider]

Khan looked real nervous and scared going out into the ring.

As if it had finally dawned on him that maybe Brook wasn't finished after all.

As if he should have insisted on dragging Brook down to 147lbs instead of just having the £100,000 penalty per any extra pound over 149.

Those 2 extra pounds seemed to spare Brook some dangerous weight cutting.

Kell Brook was doing really well against both Crawford and Spence before the stoppages. The one against Crawford looked so unusual for Brook who was winning up till that point and had previously taken GGGs best shots.

I think it's pretty clear that Kell Brook should not fight at 147 again.

As for Khan he once again fought the wrong fight with no plan b. It was always going to be hard resisting getting in close and keeping it at distance as he was probably advised to. Brook did cut the ring off well but whatever happened to Khan's jab?

A very brave performance by Amir Khan and the stoppage was not a moment too late.

Nice Post
Also - where were Khan's combinations? It was fast 2/3&4 punch combos we knew him for.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Khan looked real nervous and scared going out into the ring.

As if it had finally dawned on him that maybe Brook wasn't finished after all.

As if he should have insisted on dragging Brook down to 147lbs instead of just having the £100,000 penalty per any extra pound over 149.

Those 2 extra pounds seemed to spare Brook some dangerous weight cutting.

Kell Brook was doing really well against both Crawford and Spence before the stoppages. The one against Crawford looked so unusual for Brook who was winning up till that point and had previously taken GGGs best shots.

I think it's pretty clear that Kell Brook should not fight at 147 again.

As for Khan he once again fought the wrong fight with no plan b. It was always going to be hard resisting getting in close and keeping it at distance as he was probably advised to. Brook did cut the ring off well but whatever happened to Khan's jab?

A very brave performance by Amir Khan and the stoppage was not a moment too late.

Nice Post
Also - where were Khan's combinations? It was fast 2/3&4 punch combos we knew him for.

Couldn’t get into the groove.

He did throw a few in rd1, but they were from a distance and not effective.

I think he was very cautious of Brook’s power from the start.
By round 3-4, the combo’s were not there.

[margaret thatcher]

khan has been retired for the better part of the last 6 years, 2016-2018, then 2019-2022........was never going to be nearly as good as before. although i do think brook would always have beaten him, a stronger guy with good timing (best counter to speed) is all wrong for khan.