Kell Brook made weight for his showdown with Amir Khan and said it had never been in doubt.
Despite rumors that Brook might come in over the contracted 149-pound limit, the Sheffield boxer came nine ounces inside, as 148 pounds five ounces as he hit the scales at the Exchange Hall in Manchester.
Brook and former gym-mate Johnny Nelson had encouraged the rumors that Brook might be happy to take a large fine and weigh-in heavy. But he was more than half-a-pound inside the limit.
Khan was exactly a pound lower than Brook at 147 pounds 5 ounces.
“I was half a pound lower [than the limit], like I’ve been telling you,” Brook said. “I’ve been nice for weeks, the weight wasn’t an issue because this is a fight I could get up for easily. I’ve been on it for a long time.
“I feel amazing, I’ve done all the hard work, I’ve done the weight, it’s about fueling up and coming in cool, calm and collected. I’ve got a job to do.
“I’ve got to go out there and be me. I have to stick to the gameplan, be cool, calm and collected and just perform and do the business.
“[It’s going to be] electric. There are going to be chocolate brownies brewing, I’m going to be firing on all cylinders, it’s going to be exciting, there is going to be plenty of drama and I’m going to be there to thrill the fans.”
As the pair squared up for a face-off, Brook instantly started shouting in Khan’s face, Khan responding as security stepped in to separate them.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 – covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.