If Amir Khan truly wants a rematch with Kell Brook, he may have to take a tune-up first in order to get it.

Khan, the former junior welterweight titleholder from Bolton, England, has reportedly been itching to trigger his immediate rematch clause linked to his ballyhooed welterweight match against Brook last February, which saw Sheffield’s Brook dominate and stop Khan in the sixth round.

Given the lopsided nature of the first bout, which had been touted as one of the biggest grudge matches in British boxing history, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that a rematch seems redundant at best, irrelevant at worst.

Ben Shalom, the head of Boxxer, which promoted the ballyhooed Khan-Brook, has not been overly keen on seeing Khan jump into an immediate rematch with Brook. Obviously, there is still considerable money to be made. But if Khan is truly serious about correcting the historical record and reshaping the narrative of his legacy, Shalom believes Khan should take a bout against a lower-level opponent first. If he impresses in that outing, Shalom said, then Brook rematch can be revisited at that time.

Shalom said that Khan appears to be siding with this scenario.

“Amir still hopes that maybe he’ll have a fight, but maybe not against Kell Brook, [and] show that perhaps that wasn’t what people thought it was and then maybe the fight’s on after that,” Shalom told SecondsOut.com. “I think that’s what Amir is committed to now.”

Shalom has previously stated that even if Khan (34-6, 21 KOs) decides to request an immediate rematch, the potential fight would require Brook (40-3, 28 KOs) to sign off on the terms. Since the win over Khan, Brook has had no shortage of willing suitors to get in the ring with the former welterweight titlist. That includes compatriots middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. and rising welterweight Conor Benn. Shalom has said that even representatives for American welterweight contenders Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia have reached out about fighting Brook.

Shalom, who is one of the key content providers for the broadcasting giant Sky, stated that he understands Khan’s wholehearted desire to gain revenge on Brook. He also noted that Khan was injured going into the bout.

“If he really believes that he isn’t finished, like what a lot of people are saying – and fair play to him he said he had a shoulder injury. He did have a shoulder injury,” Shalom said.

Shalom made it clear, however, that he is not entirely on board promoting a rematch if Khan's motive is simply to extract one more sizable payday from the sport. If he is truly earnest about ending his career on a new note, then the way to sell the rematch is for Khan to look impressive in a tune-up bout first.

“If he wants to prove he wants to fight and it’s not just about the money and it’s about legacy, and he wants to not go out like that, he needs to fight someone else.” Shalom said. “He needs to show that he’s serious about this and not for the big money. And then from there maybe he will get that big fight. Once he understands that, Amir Khan will do what he wants to do.

“I do expect him to have one more fight and see how that goes.” ;