Kell Brook Dominates and Stops Amir Khan in a U.K. Blockbuster

Tonight’s fight in Manchester, England between Amir Khan and Kell Brook wouldn’t have filled the small room at Madison Square Garden, but in the U.K. it was a very big deal. When tickets went on sale, all 19,000 seats were reportedly gobbled up within the first six minutes, notwithstanding the fact that this was a match-up between two 35-year-old fighters whose best days were behind them.

Khan and Brook shared the ring as amateurs when they competed for a slot on the team that would represent England in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The coaches picked Khan who went on to win a silver medal. In the ensuing years, Khan and Brook repeatedly exchanged insults on social media with Amir Khan the primary instigator. Grudge fights are often contrived by PR flacks, but the bad blood between Brook and Khan was genuine.

Amir Khan basically trained himself for his most recent fight, a stroll in the park with overmatched Billy Dib in Saudi Arabia back in 2019. For this fight he enlisted the services of Brian McIntyre and prepared at Terence Crawford’s second home in Colorado Springs. Kell Brook had likewise missed all of 2021, but in theory he had less rust to shed.

Khan was understood to be the better boxer, whereas Brook punched harder and had a sturdier chin. The oddmakers made Brook the favorite in the 8/5 range and judging by what transpired inside the ropes, he should have been a bigger favorite. Khan’s hands were faster, but his defense was lacking. Beginning in round three, Brook, who was naturally the bigger man, buzzed him repeatedly until referee Victor Loughlin waived the fight off in the sixth.

Kell Brook had both eye sockets surgically repaired, “souvenirs” from his rumbles with Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr, and tonight his left eye was swelling as he answered the bell for round six. Perhaps propelled by a sense of urgency, he swarmed all over Khan who offered little in return. The official time was 0:51 of round six. The fighters embraced at the end of the contest.

This may be the end of the line for Amir Khan, a savvy self-promoter who received the lion’s share of the purse and is well-fixed financially for the rest of his life. Khan vs. Brook aired in the U.K. on Sky Sports pay-per-view and in the United States on ESPN+.

Other Bouts of Note

Natasha Jonas came up aces in her third crack at a world title and did it in impressive fashion, blasting out late sub Chris Namus in the second round to claim the WBO world female super welterweight title. A 37-year-old southpaw from Liverpool, Jonas (11-2-1, 5 KOs) was held to a draw by Terri Harper and was narrowly out-pointed by Katie Taylor in previous world title fights contested in lower weight classes.

Jonas dropped Namus (25-7) with a hard right hook in the final seconds of the opening round and Namus’s corner tossed in the towel when Jonas dropped her again early in round two. The official time was 0.28.

A 34-year-old Uruguayan, Chris Namus had been stopped only once previously, that coming way back in 2009. She owns one of boxing’s coolest nicknames: El Bombon Asesino, loosely-translated as Killer Hottie (also the title of a song popular in Latin America).

Frazer Clarke, a bronze medalist for England in the super heavyweight division at the Tokyo Olympics, was successful in his pro debut, halting flabby Jake Darnell whose corner tossed in the towel in the opening round. An ex-soccer player who reportedly had prior ring experience in bare-knuckle affairs, Darnell confessed to the London Sun that he accepted the fight on short notice so that he could get to see the Khan-Brook fight.

Ekaterinburg, Russia

Earlier in the day, ESPN+ subscribers had access to an important fight in Russia pitting Zaur Abdullaev against 36-year-old Venezuelan globetrotter Jorge Linares, a former three-division title-holder. Abdullaev had a distinct home field advantage – this was his 11^th appearance at this venue – but he had failed badly when he previously stepped up in class, lasting only four rounds with Devin Haney, and the odds on today’s fight hovered around “pick.”

This time Abdullaev (15-1, 9 KOs) rose to the occasion. Linares, who early in his career drew comparisons to the great Alexis Arguello, had the best of the early going, seemingly winning four of the first five rounds, but Abdullaev stayed the course, landing the harder punches, and ultimately took the fight out of the hands of the judges.

The Russian had Linares on the deck twice in the 12^th and final round, both compliments of left hooks. The second knockdown happened with 53 seconds remaining in the fight and then, 21 seconds later, with Linares being pummeled against the ropes, the referee stepped in and waived it off.

Linares declined to 47-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance. As a pro, he has answered the bell for 344 rounds and it would behoove him to walk away from the sport at this juncture.

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