Hearn: Khan-Brook is still a huge fight

Boxingnews24.com

By Marcus Richardson: Eddie Hearn hasn’t given up on what appears to be a dead rivalry between former welterweight champion Kell Brook and former 140lb. champ Amir Khan. Both fighters are coming off knockout losses, and the future for the two is in doubt.

Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) says he’ll be back fighting in the first quarter of 2018, but he’s become increasingly unreliable when it comes to his comeback predictions. He was supposed to be back inside the ring in early 2017. Khan then said he would be back in December. Now he’s talking about returning early next year.

Brook is in the same boat. He isn’t sure when he’ll fight, and he’s not clear on what division he’ll be fighting in. It’s academic at this point that Brook (36-2, 25 KOs) isn’t big enough to fight in the 154lb. division. It’s not just Brook’s size that is the problem. It’s his eye problems. In Brook’s last 2 fights, he’s suffered fractured eye sockets effecting different eyes.

”Khan-Brook is still a huge fight,” said Hearn to skysports.com. “I think Kell will return in March, I’m not sure what Amir is going to do. I’d like to see him return in March or April as well, and potentially build towards a fight in the closing period of 2018,” said Hearn.

There’s a time to let go of old ideas. It might be a good time for Hearn to come to terms with the reality that Brook vs. Khan is NOT going to happen in 2018, 2019 or any time in the future. There’s no interest on Khan’s part, and Brook is falling apart physically at age 31. His career might be over anyway in his next fight no matter who he faces. Hearn would do well just to hope that he can get Brook through his next fight without him falling to pieces in front of the crowd. The guy has become fragile as he’s hit 30.

What Hearn needs to do is get Brook a good dietician that can work on getting his weight as low as possible so that he can remain at 147. That’s Brook’s best chance to get what little mileage is left out of his career. He seems to be a shot fighter.

“I know they are both coming off losses but they are both elite fighters,” Hearn said.“The grudge is real. It’s an all-British super fight. I’d like to see them both in the ring, getting some wins under their belts, and moving onto some huge fights.”

Technically, Brook and Khan are both elite fighters, but I don’t think they’re close to not being elite at this point. Hearn couldn’t match Brook against Shawn Porter right now and expect him to win. The same goes for Khan. They would lose to an active fighter with good health like Porter. You couldn’t match either of them against Keith Thurman and expect them to win. If they can’t beat either of those guys or Errol Spence, then you can’t say they’re elite in the true sense. They’re more like elite from yesterday.