Hearn says Khan-Brook to fight in March, rehydration clause a “deal-breaker”

Boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan’s insistence to have a 10-pound rehydration clause as part of his contract for his fight against Kell Brook in 2019 is a “deal-breaker,” according to Matchroom Boxing USA promoter Eddie Hearn, who is targeting March for the Khan-Brook fight to take place. But for the Khan-Brook fight to happen, it’s likely going to require for the 31-year-old Khan to drop his demand for a 10-lb rehydration clause.

Khan wants to keep Brook from ballooning up in the 170s or 180s after he makes the 147 lb weigh-in limit for the March fight. Brook, who is clearly a true junior middleweight in size, is resisting Khan’s demand for the 10-lb rehydration clause. Brook wants to rehydrate fully and use his weight to be strong for the fight. If Khan allows Brook to weigh as much as he wants for the fight, then he pretty much will have no chance of winning. It would be like asking Brook to fight light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev. Would Brook agree to fight someone that would potentially outweigh him on the night by 15 pounds like Beterbiev? I’d say that’s a big no, but that’s what Brook would be asking Khan to do if he lets him get away with not agreeing to a 10-lb rehydration limit. Heck, even with a 10-b rehydration clause for the fight, there would be nothing stopping Brook from ballooning up in weight after he makes weigh for the secondary weigh-in on the morning of a fight. For a secondary rehydration limit to be worthwhile, the fight day weigh-in needs to be conducted minutes before the two fighters step foot inside the ring. That’s the only way to know for sure that it’s an even playing field for the fight.

“The rehydration clause may be a deal breaker,” Hearn said to Fighthub. “Kell has said openly ‘I will take the fight at 147.’ I really believe the Khan fight’s going to happen in March. We’re trying to have talks over the next couple of weeks to close that off. Let Kell get the win, look good on Dec. 8th, and finally we’ll get the fans that British fans have wanted for so long,” Hearn said.

I don’t know about whether the British boxing fans still care to see Khan and Brook fight each other at this point. It seem like the fight is seven years too late. The Khan vs. Brook fight should have taken place around 2011 or 2012, but not in 2018 when both guys are pretty much shot and no longer among the elite in their divisions. I mean, you can’t throw Khan in with the top welterweights Errol Spence Jr., Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Terence Crawford or Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman and expect him to do anything but lose. By the same token, putting Brook in with junior middleweight talents Erislandy Lara, Jermell Charlo, Jaime Munguia and Jarred Hurd would be a REALLY bad idea. Against those fighters, Brook would be like an old car, trying to go up a steep hill, losing parts, blowing out blue smoke out it’s back end and falling apart. It wouldn’t workout well. Hearn putting these two old timers Khan and Brook in with each other at this point is too little, too late. Without Khan and Brook proving that their still relevant fighters in their divisions, their fight is little more than an awful money grab.

Brook (37-2, 26 KOs) is rumored to be facing 2nd tier fighter Michael Zerafa in a mismatch on December 8 in Sheffield, England. For some reason, Hearn still hasn’t announced the fight. It’s unclear why Hearn is waiting to announce the Brook vs. Zerafa fight. I have my suspicions that he’s cringing at the negative reactions that he’ll be getting from the British boxing public when he finally announces the Brook-Zerafa. It’s going to be like someone dragging their finger nails over a chalk board, believe me. It’s not going to be pretty to watch Hearn announce this mismatch at the press conference. Brook should be well past this level of opponent at this point in his career, but oh well. If this is the type of fodder that Hearn wants to feed him, then so be it. I don’t think it’s smart, but it sure does look like there’ a lack of confidence in Brook’s ability to beat the best.

“This [Khan vs. Brook fight on the 8th of December] fight will be at 154, but I expect Kell to come in about 151, 152 for this fight,” Hearn said about Brook’s match against little known fighter Zerafa on December 8. “His opponent wants to come in at 154, that’s fine, but I would like to see Kell come in a little bit lighter for this fight. But, really, one of Kell’s biggest problems in his career is he’d have a fight and then he’s 13 stone before you even know it, which is 182 lbs,” Hearn said.

Well, given that Brook is going up to the 180s in between fights and looking solid at that weight, don’t think it’s a good idea that he moves up to his natural weight at middleweight or super middleweight so that he can fight guys his own size? The criticism from the boxing fans aimed towards Brook when he was fighting at welterweight was that he was a weight bully by melting down to fight in a division that was well below his natural weight. Brook should have been fighting at middleweight years ago in my opinion, and for some reason, he hasn’t done that. Khan asking Brook to agree to a simple 10-lb rehydration clause is perfectly reasonable given the size of Kell. Like I said, I don’t think for a second that Brook would agree to fight light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev due the Russian fighter likely outweighing him by 15 pounds on the night. Khan would be in the same situation if he doesn’t insist on a 10-lb rehydration limit to keep Brook from ballooning up to light heavyweight on the night of the fight.
“So now the plan

“We all know we want the Khan fight, and I do believe that fight’s going to happen around March time,” Hearn said. “His plan is to have this fight on December 8th and not leave the gym til March,” Hearn said.

I don’t know that the boxing public is all that keen in seeing Brook and Khan fight. While there are some fans in the UK that want to see those two face each other, overall the boxing world would like to see those two face relevant fighters rather than each other. The fans want to see Khan fight the top welterweights like Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Terence Crawford. The fans prefer to see Brook matches up against the to guys from 154 like Jermell Charlo, Hurd, Lara and Jaime Munguia. Given Brook’s size, he really should be fighting guys his own size at middleweight like Saul Canelo Alvarez, Demetrius Andrade, Jermall Charlo, Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs and Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Brook fighting Khan is a size mismatch. Hearn might not have a problem letting Khan fight Brook without a rehydration clause to limit how much weight Kell can gain back after he weighs in the day before the fight, but he’s not the one that has to fight him. If it were Hearn that was taking the shots from the middleweight-sized Brook, I think he would be whistling a different tune.