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Nick Parkinson
Amir Khan insists he is as hungry and as sharp as ever ahead of facing Kell Brook on Saturday, after benefiting from training with ESPN’s pound-for-pound boxing king Terence Crawford.
Khan, who was stopped in six rounds by Crawford in 2019, faces bitter English rival Brook in a long-awaited welterweight clash at Manchester Arena, live on ESPN+ in the United States.
Both 35-year-olds have been in better form and their days as world champions are long behind them, but the fight has still generated plenty of interest in the United Kingdom.
Khan (34-5, 21 KOs), from Bolton, has not fought for two-and-a-half years and has switched trainers to Brian “Bomac” McIntyre, who was in the corner for WBO world welterweight champion Crawford in his wins over Khan and Brook.
Khan has trained alongside Crawford in Colorado and Nebraska in preparation for Brook (39-3, 27 KOs), and feels reinvigorated by his change in trainers from Virgil Hunter to McIntyre. Khan has been stopped by Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2016), No. 1 and 2 in ESPN’s latest pound-for-pound rankings respectively, in his last five fights but believes he can still be a force again.
“A change [in trainer, set up] is good in boxing sometimes,” Khan told ESPN. “I was in Nebraska for four weeks, then 7,000 ft up in Colorado Springs, it’s where Crawford usually trains and I don’t think I’ve ever been pushed like this in a training camp.
“You need to test yourself and when I fought Crawford, they had the right game plan. They know me well and they know Kell Brook well, so they know how to make me a better fighter and how to beat Brook. As a fighter, old habits die hard so I’m glad I came here early.
“They pushed me hard every day and I’ve done a few rounds with Crawford, sparring, and I can see how much I’ve come on. He’s been very supportive of me in camp, says he will be going to England to support me, we are just like one big family in training camp.
“Crawford is a better fighter than me, he beat me that night fair and square, but that only gives me the confidence that my training team is working on making me better and they [Crawford] literally dismantled him in his last fight. I needed motivation too and I want to impress them all, and not just be known for that loss to Terence.”
Khan, who reigned as world junior welterweight champion from 2009 to 2011, insists his handspeed — his greatest asset — is still as fast as ever despite his age and inactivity.
“I’m training with younger fighters and I’m outrunning them, beating them in the gym, I’m fitter than them and I’m better than them so there’s no sign that I’m getting old or past it,” Khan told ESPN.
“When I realise I can’t do this anymore, then I will walk away but I’m outgunning the youngsters at the moment. I feel good, I feel strong. The body is telling me to keep going. I’m going to be wise about it.
“I’m as fast as I’ve ever been and I think the break has done me the world of good. The handspeed and accuracy is still there, and I’m older and wiser now so I’m learning from my mistakes.”
Khan has no regrets about not boxing since a four-round win over Billy Dib in July 2019.
“The pandemic took over and I just thought I didn’t want to fight in an empty arena,” he said.
“All my life I have fought in front of big crowds at big venues. I didn’t think I would have been able to perform in front of no fans.”
Brook, from Sheffield, has been training in Fuerteventura, one of Spain’s Canary Islands 60 miles off the north coast of Africa, for a fight he has been waiting years to happen. Brook, who has been trained by Dominic Ingle and his late father Brendan Ingle his whole career, has suffered three stoppage defeats after reigning as IBF world welterweight champion from 2014 to 2017.
Defeat in four rounds to Crawford in November 2020, followed knockout defeats to Gennadiy Golovkin (up at middleweight, 2016) and Errol Spence (at welterweight, 2017) when Brook suffered broken eye sockets in both those fights.
“I’ll use my experience from working with [trainer] Brendan Ingle early on in my career, and his son Dominic all these years, and stick to the game plan, contain my emotions,” Brook said.
Brook is unsure which way Khan will approach the fight, but the general consensus is that the Sheffield boxer is the more powerful puncher and stronger fighter.
“I’m training for every different situation,” Brook said. Top level fighters adapt and if I think he’s going to go out in a certain way, and then he doesn’t, some fighters will fail to adapt but I will be able to adapt.
“He might want to prove to the fans that he can come in and beat me easy, fight me, if he thinks he’s levels above me and try to get rid of me. Or he might come in and just run and make the fight a stinker. I’ve gone over and over how this fight will go and I only see me winning, every time.”
Retirement looms large over Khan and Brook after some brutal stoppage losses, but both are denying hanging up the gloves has been on their minds recently.
“Financially I don’t need to fight on because I’ve achieved what I want in the sport. I’ve always said I will retire from boxing, on my own terms, rather than boxing retiring me,” Khan said.
“I was semi-retired when Covid happened because I didn’t know if I would fight again and it gave me time to think about whether I wanted to box again and I realised after a while I still had it in me. I realised I still wanted to do it. I didn’t want to retire so I came back. Boxing is all I know.
“I put all my other investments, charities and commitments to one side, so the pandemic was a good thing. I’ve got no distractions now and my wife is a big help by taking a lot of the stress off my shoulders with all of the building work we are doing. After the layoff I have really enjoyed coming back to train.”
Khan has goaded Brook by saying he’s not the same fighter he used to be, but there should be no doubts that Brook wants to win this fight perhaps more than any other in his 18-year professional career.
“I want to prove I’m a better fight than him and how him that he’s deluded and I’m the man I’ve been saying I am,” Brook said.
“I’m not thinking about retirement, I’m thinking about Amir Khan. The mojo is back and I’ve really enjoyed training.”