Amir Khan in talks to finally fight Brit rival Kell Brook next year
AMIR KHAN has revealed that he is finally in talks to set up a fight with long-time Brit rival Kell Brook for “early next year”.
The 32-year-old has performed a massive U-turn after calling for Special K to retire from boxing last month as he doesn’t want to “give him any more punishment”.
Welterweight rivals Khan and Brook, 33, have jostled in the negotiation room for the latter part of their careers but have failed to agree terms.
But after promoter Eddie Hearn stepped in to ensure the elusive fight will be given “one more roll of the dice”, Khan confirmed that the two are firmly in talks.
Speaking to PepTalk UK about the fight between him and Brook, the former world champion said: “I think it’s a great idea, definitely.
“I think both of us will be fighting end of the year and then we see early next year that fight between me and Kell [Brook] can happen.
“We are both similar age, I think it’s a fight that we’ve been trying to make for a very long time and I think it’s getting very close to it now.
“I’ve worked with Eddie Hearn for a couple of my previous fights and I think going back and working with him on this fight against Kell Brook will be massive.
“We are in talks with Eddie and Kell’s team so hopefully we can make that fight happen.
“Its a fight that the public want, it’s a massive fight in Britain, so let make it happen.
It’s a fight that we’ve been trying to make for a very long time and I think it’s getting very close to it now
Amir Khan
Hearn recently said that both Khan and Brook are finally looking to face each other with the fight expected to take place in February or March.
“I spoke to him [Khan] and I spoke to his lawyer yesterday, we’re going to meet next week for a chat,” He told iFL TV.
“He [Khan] just come on and said he wants to talk about his next fight.
Speaking on the Khan vs Brook fight Hearn added: “I want to make that fight next February-March I think both of them want to fight in December, not each other, just fight.
Khan signed a three-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing in January 2018 before beating Phil Le Greco and Samuel Vargas last year.
In the final bout of his contract promoter Hearn planned to have the Bolton hero face Brook.
However, Brook saw his dream-fight slip away after Khan snubbed the Sheffield welterweight in order to challenge WBO champion Terence Crawford in April.
After a low blow left Khan unable to continue he was handed a TKO loss but bounced back to beat former super-featherweight champion Billy Dib in Saudi Arabia in July.
Brook, meanwhile, has reunited with trainer Dominic Ingle, after one fight with John Fewkes.