Khan always gives it large pre-fight, loved when he told Garcia to make sure he was ready, Danny laughed in his face and said he would fight him then and there, in the fight Khan got his head caved in.
Does he? I'm not too sure. He asked Brook who the A-side was expecting an argument and Kell just said 'you are' - that wasn't a concession it was a dismissal; he doesn't care. Sounds like Brook is focused on the fight in hand, not bank balances and profile...
Interesting point and perhaps highlights both fighters mentality. Khan it's all about how he's perceived, Brook doesn't care about that, he's got a point to prove and a fight to win and yes that what's he's focused on not on the fans opinions of them. One's concerned with celebrity and fame the other with fighting and winning.
Also in Khan's recent pad work video with Crawford he looked beyond shot. Remined me a little of the training vid Haye released in the week prior to the Bellew rematch which was enough to persuade me to bet against him. Slow, cumbersome, zero snap to the punches. Okay, it's one video and he MIGHT have been playing mind games but he looked like exactly what he is: a semi-retired former fighter. In the end though it might all come down to which of the two has managed to double glaze their glass...
I think Brook looked like a million bucks in rounds 1-3 against Crawford, and that what happened to him in the 4th wasn't the result of him being shot to bits, even though he probably shouldn't have drained himself down to get to WW again, and at that weight, he is in fact shot to bits. I think instead, it had everything to do with the trajectory, torque behind and impact of that horrid jab right hook hybrid that he got caught with right as he was leaning into it, it was the neck jarring and head twisting from that nasty ass angle he was hit from that did the damage, and that would discombobulate and rob a goddamn bull of his equilibrium. Quite frankly, it's shocking it didn't KO Brook cold and that he didn't even go down from it. I cringe just thinking what a shot like that would've done to Khan who is equally shot at WW, so much so, he couldn't take a punch from Sammy Vargas. So I'm not really letting that influence my judgment here. So... I think Khan and his speed advantage might give him an early edge, then Brook will figure out his timing, clip him with a few vicious straight rights as Khan's lunging in, and that'll be all she wrote.
Was watching some clips on them sparing and Khan looked like Khan - was having to be told to move after his flurys but still looked quick Brook was jumping in a few times not using his feet and he did take a couple of digs. Would have loved to have watched more of both of them sparing to be honest as you can't draw much from clips but it did make me wonder. Is Brooks timing still there? It wasn't for the Zerafa fight and hasn't really shown up since. Kell looks old to me, drawn and grey, i'm not sure the weight will do him any favors. They have always matched up well but despite the obvious chin flaws I think Khan might take this.
Only 4 days until we all get to see Khan do the chicken dance once more! Not sure how exactly this will play out but can't see Khan stopping the special one, and at some point he's getting clipped, dropped and then stopped!
It was definitely there in his last bout, up until he was caught and hurt by a much better boxer and a harder, more precise puncher than Khan. As it happens, Crawford singled out that exact asset for praise when they met after the fight. The criticism Kell received for his performance against Zerafa was overzealous. It wasn't that bad a showing at all, considering he'd fought only once in the previous eighteen months, was in his first bout working with a novice trainer and was facing a natural middleweight who'd only previously been stopped by a huge Peter Quillin and who would subsequently go on to crush another former welterweight titlist moving up in Jeff Horn. It's hard not to have some nagging doubts about this fight from a Brook perspective. But it's not as if we can expect the version of Khan who fought Maidana or the version who fought Collazo to show up, either. He's been deeply inactive, his vaunted speed is not quite as blazing as of old, plus he's chinnier than ever if the way he handled Sammy Vargas' power is any indicator.
