Amir Khan has stoked up Saturday's bitter grudge match with Kell Brook by accusing him of using a racist slur.
Khan challenged Brook during Thursday’s final press conference for saying he has a “poppadom chin”, saying he found this offensive as a British-Pakistani.
Brook was speaking from the dais at Manchester’s Exchange Hall when Khan interrupted him and confronted him over his jibe.
“I want to ask you one question when everyone is here,” Khan said to Brook. “I saw a video where you said ‘I’m going to smash that poppadom chin’. That sounded racist to me, why did you say that?”
Sky’s head of boxing Adam Smith, who was sitting between the pair, tried to calm this volatile situation and Brook replied: “Everyone knows they’re very fragile like your chin.”
Khan was still angry about Brook’s comments when the press conference ended and claimed he could never be friends with him.
“I don’t usually talk about racism issues because sometimes I think it can just make things worse,” said the former unified light-welterweight champ.
“But when someone says something like that, it does upset you and it put me on a proper downer.
“I was really surprised when I saw that video. It was so sad, because I would never have thought that of Kell.
“He’s not only having a dig at me, but at my religion and race. Racism isn’t nice and he knows exactly what he means. He needs to get a beating for that.
“He’s gone from hating me and being jealous of me of racism. It’s gone too far, it’s personal and too deep. I cannot be friends with a guy like that.”
Brook claimed Khan was trying to portray him as the bad guy to get the fans on his side for their clash at Manchester’s AO Arena and insisted he is not racist.
The Sheffield fighter is mixed race and says he has plenty of British-Asian friends.
“What he’s trying to do is get everyone on his side and think I’m some kind of racist character when I’m not,” said the former IBF welterweight king.
“Where I’m from there, there’s no way I’m racist at all.
“He’s trying to put me under the bus by getting people up turn on me. I just meant by what I said is how delicate he is, poppadoms just break, which is the same as his chin. That’s the only angle I’m coming from. There’s no racial angle there at all, zero.
“I’ve got Asian, Indian fans and in the gym too, who chill with me most days when I’m in the gym. It’s pathetic.”
Khan continued his broadside at Brook from the dais and called him a “fanboy” because he was “obsessed” with him.
The Bolton fighter said: “Kell is obsessed by my career, a fanboy. I think I’ve been living in his head for so long that I should pay him some rent.
“I am worried about Kell’s health after the beating I give him, it will be like something he has never felt before.
“We’ve done enough talking now and I just want to get in the ring and a job on him.”
