Amir Khan set to flatten Kell Brook fight hopes by signing Terence Crawford title shot next week
American WBO king and pitbull enthusiast will welcome the Bolton boy to the States for a £4m payday
AMIR KHAN is set to floor Kell Brook by announcing his world title shot at WBO welterweight king Terence Crawford next week.
The Bolton ace has been teasing a fight with his fellow Brit for years and they were expected to meet this summer.
But the 32-year-old 2004 Olympic silver medallist has instead lined up a fight with the undefeated pound-for-pound American sensation that will bank him around £4million.
Switch-hitting Nebraska hero Crawford, 31, has won titles in three weight classes and is expected to make easy work of the ex-I’m A Celebrity jungle dweller.
But legendary promoter Bob Arum, of Top Rank, is still doing his best to build the US fight slated for April 20.
He told : “Everything looks good. Hopefully, we'll be able to make an announcement next week. It's not done until it's done, but I'm very optimistic."
latest boxing news
The decision on the location will be made ASAP to allow fans time to book their tickets and hotel rooms.
Arum added: “New York or Las Vegas - those are the two spots we are talking about. It's a big fight and Khan and Crawford have a lot of people to fly to their fights.
“They both have good fan bases and that's what a place like Las Vegas looks for, customers to come in and fill the hotel rooms.
“A place like Madison Square Garden looks to fill the seats and doesn't care about filling hotel rooms. Wherever, I am very optimistic the fight is going to happen."
Brook’s underwhelming super-welterweight points win over Michael Zerafa on December 8 made him mandatory challenger for WBA and IBF 154lb boss Jarrett Hurd.
But, on the back of his Sheffield Arena performance, he should think twice about taking on the bleach-blond 6ft 1in star.
