Kell Brook still doesn't trust bitter rival Amir Khan
The long-awaited showdown between British welterweight standouts Amir Khan and Kell Brook was formally announced at a press conference in London yesterday.
The fight will take place Saturday, February 19 at the AO Arena Manchester and will air live and exclusively in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office.
Brook addressed the media and told them he is still unsure whether 'King Khan' will actually fight him finally, "I'm still sceptical now. Until that night comes where I'm looking at him in that ring and it's just me and that referee and then it'll click. I've being trying to pull this fight for years, just for the simple reason the fans want it and I want to give the fans this fight. It's something that I need for my career; I've become world champion, I've been in some amazing fights with pound for pound fighters, this is something my career needed – a real war of the roses, see who the king of the north is. I'm dead excited, it's a fight I can get my proper teeth in."
There were lucrative offers to host the fight in the Middle East but Sheffield's 'Special K' was adamant the fight had to take place in the UK, "It's an English fight, we don't want to go to Dubai. This, the venue where we've got in Manchester, is in the middle of both. Everyone and his dog will want to be involved in this fight, we've got it in England, got it up north where we're both from."
Of the fight itself, over a decade in the making, Kell believes it'll be worth the wait, "I think we're gonna meet in the middle of the ring, there'll be fireworks straightaway, a big scrap in a phone booth, basically it's going to be all action from the bell. Everyone is gonna be excited to see who the winner is."
Fans have always wondered why this fight didn't happen years ago, each fighter blaming the other, "He never wanted this fight," claimed Brook. "This is the fight that he's been backed into the corner where he has to take this fight. It should have happened many moons ago."
The clash has been finalised at 149-pounds, which Brook believes is an attempt from Khan to stack an advantage in his favour, "This fights at 149, there's no title on the line, you can imagine where I'm coming from, why even bring it down to 149, we're both 35, what's the point in killing [ourselves], why not make this fight at 154 or a higher weight? He's obviously worried about it about it because he knows I'm a dangerous man.
"I'm made of Sheffield steel, I'm looking forward to looking at him on the canvas on the deck and saying 'Amir, I told ya, I told ya so mate'."
BBN's reporter Aqib Tahlat asked the final question: "Your last fight was against Terence Crawford, what do you make of Crawford being Amir's sparring partner this time around?"
Kell answered him, "It is what it is, Terence can't fight for him, his trainers can't fight for him, he has to fight by himself, they're all gonna leave him in that ring, it's just gonna be and him, so you know he can be trained up for whoever he wants to get trained off, at the end of the day it's just gonna be me and him and that's all what we need."
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