Kell Brook Punishes Amir Khan, Stops Him in Sixth Round

Kell Brook relished his moment. As he was held aloft by trainer Dominic Ingle he let out an ear-splitting scream. Beating Amir Khan meant more than winning a world title, beating Amir Khan, to Brook, meant everything. 

With both now 35, this always looked to be a battle of who had what left. Brook has slowed, but he still looked solid and had his timing. Khan, on the back of a 2½-year lay-off, looked finished. He was rocked in the first round and looked booked for defeat thereafter. 

Still, Khan was never down and he never gave up. For the last two rounds he took a steady beating from Brook until referee Victor Loughlin called a finish. 

The rivalry began as teenagers. Once they were part of the same Young England team, but by 18, Khan had an Olympic silver medal and was a millionaire. Brook believed he had Khan’s number based on the sparring sessions they had, but the more he called Khan out, the more desperate he became, the more Khan enjoyed keeping him at arm’s length. 

The prime time for Khan and Brook to have met was 2016. Khan was big in America then, having headlined in Las Vegas multiple times, while Brook was IBF welterweight champion.  

Khan, though, had his own infatuation, which was a fight with Floyd Mayweather and after the final snub, Khan took an offer to step up to middleweight to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He was knocked out cold. Brook took an easily crazy fight at middleweight against Gennady Golovkin and had his eye socket broken. Neither was the same again. 

Six years on, and now 35, both had a stack of questions to answer. Would Khan, who had been inactive for 2½ years, still have any of the blistering hand speed that propelled him through his career? How much did Brook have left, having folded against Terence Crawford in his last fight in 2020 when even Dominic Ingle, his longtime trainer, had decided against getting involved? 

And while both had looked in great shape at the weigh-in, looks can often be deceiving. 

The fight had been made at a catchweight of 10st 7lb (149-pounds), two pounds above the welterweight limit that Brook had struggled to make for years. He weighed half a pound inside it at the weigh-in, although he would be expected to be a couple of weight divisions higher by the time he stepped into the ring. 

That entry was delayed after a last-minute row about gloves, a disagreement that Brook seemingly lost, as he emerged in a pair of Grant gloves of Khan’s choosing. Both, despite so man big fights each, looked unusually anxious. 

Brook landed the first worthwhile jab of the fight, but Khan got through with a cluster of blows that had Brook covering up.  

Then Brook got through with a straight left and Khan wobbled, his legs looked gone beneath him as Brook tried to follow up. Khan’s instinct was to fight back and he traded shots, but when Brook landed again, Khan was the one on unsteady legs and the pair clinched as the bell went. 

Khan came out aggressively for the second, landing left jabs and rights over the top. Brook bided his time and when Brook got through with a left hook, Khan shrugged and fired back. There was no caution from either and as the second round ended, they gave each other a nod, the first sign of respect from the pair in years. 

Brook again waited to pounce in the third and when Khan landed a good right, he opened up, leaving a way for Brook to fire back. A big right rocked Khan to his boots and he covered up for the first time. This time Brook was on him, hammering away as Khan tried to hold on and throwing Khan to the floor at the bell. 

Khan’s attacks looked much wilder than they had done in their peak, Brook looked slower but not as vulnerable as some had feared. Brook prowled after Khan at the start of the fourth round. He waited to pounce and, as the ten-second warning came, he landed another good right that had Khan looking to hold again. 

At the start of the fifth round, Khan looked in full retreat. Brook was after him, landing short right hooks and then a huge right down the middle. Khan took the lot, but there was nothing coming back. He took time to sit back on his stool but he was sent out again. 

At the start of the sixth round, Brook went for the finish. Khan tried to hold but there was no escape and, as he tottered back to the ropes, referee Victor Loughlin came to Khan’s rescue. 

Brook will believe he has more left. Khan, certainly, does not.

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.