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Amir Khan was never totally pleased with the idea of facing Kell Brook at their contracted weight agreement of 149 pounds, but the former junior welterweight titleholder was not going to let that be the reason one of the biggest British fights in recent memory did not happen.
After years of going back and forth in the media, Sheffield’s Khan and Bolton’s Brook are scheduled to square off Feb. 19 in Manchester, England. The fight, billed as a welterweight showdown, is actually taking place at 149 pounds, two pounds above the welterweight limit.
According to Khan, Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) had requested for the fight to take place at that particular limit, much to Khan’s chagrin.
“We were going to do the fight at welterweight, but he didn’t want to do it at welterweight,” Khan said during a recent Instagram Live session. “All this talk that, ‘Yeah, I’ll fight Amir anywhere, you tell me, I’ll be there.’ Bollocks.
Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) is currently training in Omaha, Nebraska, having enlisted the training services of Brian McIntyre, the head trainer of WBO welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford, who defeated Kahn in the sixth round back in 2019.
Khan said he gave into a lot of Brook’s demands, for the sake of getting the fight across the finish line.
“So, I did this for my fans, really,” Khan said. “I did this for you guys, so that no one can ever say that the reason the fight never happened [was because of me. Brook] kept messing about, changing goalposts. I just agreed to everything that he wanted. He wanted the fight at 149, yeah, no problem, even though 147 is the weight division, and 149 is not a weight division. But it is what it is.”
Both fighters will be subject to a six-figure fine for every pound they come in over the contracted weight limit, according to promoter Ben Shalom.