Amir Khan and Kell Brook will finally settle their grudge when they clash on February 19 at the AO Arena in Manchester.
Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) and Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) have been on a collision course for years and their long-overdue showdown will be promoted by BOXXER and broadcast live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and Ireland.
The staunch British rivals have seemingly been talking about a potential meeting for over a decade and even traded words during an episode of Sky Sports’ ringside show in 2012 and will come face-to-face once more at a press conference in London on Monday.
Khan continued to campaign in the USA chasing the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao in vein, but became unified super lightweight champion, with victory over Zab Judah in 2011.
His Sheffield rival secured the IBF welterweight crown after dethroning Shawn Porter in 2014, yet with both men in the same weight class a bout still did not materialise.
The pair both stepped up two weight classes, with Khan stopped by Canelo Alvarez and Brook halted by Gennady Golovkin, after suffering a broken eye socket.
Khan, 34, has fought four times since losing to Terence Crawford in a bid to become WBO welterweight champion, although he did bounce back with victory over Billy Dib in his last fight in July 2019.
Brook, 35, sustained another broken eye socket in defeat to Errol Spence Jr, who relieved him of his IBF crown in 2017, but the ‘Special One’ rebounded with three wins before being stopped in four rounds by Crawford in his last fight in November 2020.
“We’re both British and Kell always runs his mouth and I think a lot of people wanna see me just shut his mouth up,” Khan said on the Last Stand Podcast in June.
“He’s always said he has the style to beat me and the speed I have is not there anymore.
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“He’s always got something to say, so I thought, ‘You know what? Maybe it’s time to kind of put this guy in his place.’
“One thing about the UK fans, they’d love to tune in.
“With this fight, we’ve got big fanbases. When there’s drama involved and there’s a bit of a story behind it, it’s only gonna sell even bigger.”
