Amir Khan chooses to fight Crawford instead of Kell Brook
For years there has been a discussion of a possible welterweight U.K. showdown between Amir Khan and Kell Brook. Both men have had a well-known ongoing beef since the amateurs.
By the end of 2018, the possibility of finally getting these two fighters in the ring looked as if it were going to happen.
In spite of the prospect of the fight finally happening in 2019, Khan was presented with another proposal: the opportunity to face WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford for $5 million. The new question became, “what direction will he go?”
We now have an answer to what Khan plans to do. 3KingsBoxing has learned he will take the Crawford challenge in Madison Square Garden on ESPN Pay-Per-View April 20. This will make Crawford’s second attempt at defending the WBO title.
The question is: “what is the backstory behind this fight being made?” Just follow the dominoes and the money!
The Paper Trail
Bob Arum originally wanted to make a match between Crawford two-division champion Danny Garcia, but a deal was never reached. The backup plans were Luis Collazo or Amir Khan. An offer was made to both fighters with Crawford’s choice of opponent being Khan.
As for Khan, Eddie Hearn was in the process of trying to make the Brook fight this Spring. A fight with Brook could have meant even more money than the $5 Million guarantee offered from Top Rank. However, in the end, he decided to go for the bigger challenge and the more legacy defining fight than the money.
From a monetary perspective, it doesn’t make great sense to choose Crawford over Brook;especiallygiven how mundane Brook looked in his last outing against Michael Zerafa. My guess here is in Khan’s mind, the prospect of defeating possibly the best pound for pound fighter in the world was an opportunity he could not pass.
In a fight against Crawford, he can keep all the pay-per-view revenue; something that would have not been the case in a fight with Brook.
Is this a smart move on the part of Khan? We will see on April 20. On instant analysis, Amir Khan’s decision to fight Crawford instead of Brook is a head-scratcher.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
