Amir Khan gives his side of the sparring story
Amir Khan claims that "Kell Brook had no chance, I remember the coach telling me use only one hand!"
Welterweights Amir Khan (34-5, 21KOs) and Kell Brook (39-3, 27KOs) will finally settle their 15-year-old feud in an epic British battle at the AO Arena in Manchester on February 19, 2021, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Not only have this pair been feuding for the past 15 years about who is avoiding who, but they have also been debating the details of a now infamous sparring session that took place many years ago.
The rivals clashed on TV show 'Ringside', back in 2012, where Khan claimed that he "Boxed Kell all around the ring and I'm not going to lie to you, that's the God honest truth."
During this week's fight announcement, 'King Khan' reiterated his claim, "Kell Brook had no chance! I remember the coach telling me use only one hand, you have to take it easy on him. I mean, he was never ever – I mean, he says he was – and I think Dominic [Ingle] admitted that 'Oh he sparred Amir Khan', and he didn't mention where I battered him, but he mentioned everything else – that Amir's quick and got a good shot.
"I got picked for the Olympic team at 17, fighting men at the age of 34 and, that's only because I was beating people up, beating all the best fighters in the UK up, and then went to the Olympics at the age of 17, the youngest ever to win a medal, for Great Britain, but Kell's aways been very bitter that he didn't do what I've done, he wants to always be in my shoes. So he's always had that bitterness in him. I think he's happy he's getting the payday."
Despite promoter Ben Shalom managing to get Khan and Brook in the ring together finally, the Bolton boxer admitted it wasn't easy, "My wife and my lawyer Jeff were always on the phone with everyone making sure we can get this fight over the line. You see, I mean, it was very hard to get it done, but I'm glad the team we had went and did it."
The fight has taken over 10-years to finalise, but Khan doesn't believe it's too late in the making and gave his reasons why, "It's a massive fight, don't get me wrong, and Kell is a name in the UK; obviously he wants to win this fight but, look, we are going to go in there and we're going to put on the best performance ever. Even though people might think it's a bit too late, I don't think it is because one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world is 35," Khan quoted in reference to two-weight world champion Terence Crawford, who is currently 34 years of age.
"Well I'm 34, 35 in a couple of weeks," he continued. "Look, I'm in the best shape I've ever been, I feel strong, I feel lean; I don't think I've ever gone into training camp in shape. I'm already cut up, been training for the last couple of months, while COVID happened I was in the gym keeping busy. Yeah I'm ready."
On his rivalry with Brook, that originally began 15 years back, Khan said frankly, "Yeah, there's genuine bad blood there. We don't like each other and I think he's very disrespectful. I think it's more just a jealousy he's had all the time, he's a very jealous person. And what I've done in my career he's been in envy of that. It is just one of them things, you just want to punch him in the face and that's what I'm going to do come Saturday night on February the 19th."
Despite the excitement and ensuing debates surrounding the all-British battle, the former super-lightweight world champion downplayed the fight compared to others during his career, "I don't class Kell Brook fight as a big win like compared to the guys I fought in America because I think this is more of a British fight more than that, so I class it as a fight that really isn't bigger than any of them fights I had in America, no."
For this long-awaited clash at a catchweight of 149lbs, Khan will be trained by Brian “BoMac” McIntyre and sparring with the likes of Terence Crawford, who defeated him in 2019. He discussed his new team, "I've had many trainers, different trainers, and different team members, but I think this is a team I really like, I've got a good team around me, and I'm very happy with this one. I've known “BoMac” for long time, I've even been speaking to Crawford for a long time as well before my fight, we've been following each other for a long time, and I remember when he came over to me at the MGM Arena for a picture one time and I mean he's now one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, humble guy, great fighter, and there's so much you can learn from him. It'll bring the best out of me and make me the better fighter I am."
BBN reporter Aqib Tahlat quizzed Khan on what he makes of promoter Eddie Hearn thinking the winner should fight Conor Benn, "Yeah, Conor's a great fighter, don't get me wrong but it just depends the route we're gonna be taking, but Conor, yeah, that could be a fight in the future for sure, definitely. Conor is a great champion, great fighter as well, it could be someone that we look at as well."
Full interview here:
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