Anticipation for Amir Khan and Kell Brook’s grudge match this Saturday will have sharply increased following their fiery press conference on Thursday, with host Adam Smith forced to calm down the rivals as they traded spiteful insults.
Khan and Brook will go head-to-head at Manchester Arena this weekend in a main-event catchweight bout at 149lbs, following years of calls from boxing fans for the British pair to meet in the ring.
The former champions exchanged heated words in their pre-fight press conference, with Khan saying: “I’m worried about a few things. I’m worried about Kell’s health after the beating I’m gonna be giving him.
“Another thing: I think Kell’s always been obsessed with my career, he’s like a fanboy. I’ve been living in his head, I think it’s at the stage where he’s gonna need to start paying me some rent.
“I think it’s more jealousy than anything.”
Brook in turn said: “We’re three sleeps away, he’s definitely gonna sleep Saturday night when I smash him in. He’s going on his face or his back, one of the two.”
The Sheffield fighter then told Bolton-born Khan: “If you stand and give the fans a good fight, I’ll give you [a handshake]. But if you just go out and get chinned, I don’t think I’ll shake your hand.”
Both fighters doubled down on their predictions of a knockout, with Khan insisting: “I’m gonna go for the kill, but I’m experienced enough at this age to not make mistakes and go off the gameplan.”
Brook was quick to interject, saying: “I’ve never been knocked out, never been knocked spark out in my career – he has. So, that’s what he’s learnt in his time.”
Khan also said he was “quite surprised” that he is the betting underdog at the time of writing, suggesting: “If you guys wanna make money, it’s a good time to make money. Put your money on me.”
Brook, meanwhile, seemingly tried to psyche out his opponent by admitting that he might come in overweight to fight Khan. “I might make weight, I might not,” he told Sky Sports. “I might pay a few hundred grand [fine].”
Both fighter’s trainers also engaged in a heated back-and-forth, with Brook’s head coach Dominic Ingle appearing to get under the skin of Brian McIntyre.
McIntyre trains Terence Crawford, who has beaten both Khan and Brook and has joined his coach in helping Khan prepare for this weekend’s main event.
Reacting to Ingle’s taunts, McIntyre said: “Now you gone woke me up. Kell has nothing. Y’all just going through the motions.
“He ain’t gonna do s***. He’s shot. He’s good for four rounds; it’s gonna be a tight fight for the first four rounds, but after that he’s gonna start windmilling away.”
Explaining his decision to train Khan for Saturday’s fight, American McIntyre said: “One thing I was convinced of was that [Khan] wanted [to beat Crawford] more than Kell did, because Kell only went three rounds.”
That drew a collective “ooh” from those gathered at the press conference, including McIntyre’s compatriot Crawford, who stopped Brook via TKO – while Khan withdrew after six rounds against the American after a controversial low blow.
