This weekend, boxing fans would witness a match between two fighters who have been at war for almost 20 years. British boxers Amir Khan and Kell Brooks would face each other in an epic catchweight fight that should have happened years ago. A fight between both boxers has been a topic since 2012, and for some time in 2017 and 2018, everyone thought it was finally going to happen. But it never just seemed to come to life. This Saturday, however, both men would take to the ring at the Manchester Arena to settle their long-standing score.
35-year-old Khan is an Olympic medalist and was, at some point, the unified light-welterweight champion of the world. He has a fighting record of 39 fights with 34 wins and 5 losses. Throughout his career, he has competed in the lightweight, light-welterweight, welterweight, and middleweight divisions. His last fight, against Bobby Dib in 2019 won him the vacant WBC International welterweight title. He has three wins from his last five features. He failed to win the WBO welterweight from Terence Crawford when they met in 2019. His career has been very rich, with many titles to his name.
Brooks, a former IBF welterweight champion, has a fight record of 3 losses from 42 fights. All of his losses came at the later point of his career, starting from 2016, 12 years after he turned pro. He won the IBC welterweight title after defeating Shawn Porter in 2014 and lost it to Errol Spence Jr. three years later. Like Khan, he lost to Terence Crawford when he challenged for the WBO welterweight title in 2020, which was his last fight. He sustained injuries after losing to Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. which greatly impacted his career. 27 out of his 39 wins have come from knockouts.
On Saturday, we would witness a fight between two accomplished fighters who are at the end of their careers, having given so much to the sport. It would be interesting to see how they settle their feud and who emerges victorious.
Written by: Leon Osamor
