Amir Khan is aiming to laugh in the face of domestic rival Kell Brook by putting on a show in his backyard. The pair have quarrelled in the past and an all-British welterweight tear-up is on many fight fans’ wishlist, but both men have business to take care of before then. Brook will fight Devon Alexander for the IBF title in May while Khan is returning to England for the first time in two years to take on Julio Diaz on April 27.
That he has chosen to do so in Brook’s home city of Sheffield has only served to add extra spice to their rivalry, although Khan is adamant he has plenty to occupy him in the light-welterweight division for now. The Diaz fight is a catch-weight one at 143lbs and he wants rematches at 140lbs with Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson. As a result he says he is not even thinking about Brook, but could not resist tickling his ribs when asked about his foray into South Yorkshire.
“Wherever we fight in the UK, we will go to Brook’s home town and we will sell out – that’s a fact,” the 26-year-old said. “Brook should not be focusing on my fight. I’m not thinking about a fight with him – he’s got a fight with Devon Alexander. He has to be focused on his thing. “But it will show I have more fans than him in his home city. That’s a laugh in his face. “I have nothing against Kell Brook. I don’t care about him or think about him. He has to prove himself. At the moment he’s not on my radar or anything.
“If I move up to 147 then definitely I would fight him, but it’s six to nine months before I do move up. When I do, I’m not someone who says no and I would take that fight.” In the Steel City or not, there will be a huge expectancy for Khan to perform next month. His last outing on home soil was his sixth-round stoppage of Paul McCloskey in 2011 and since then he has lost his two world titles as a result of defeats against Peterson and Garcia.
Some redemption came in the form of a victory over Carlos Molina in December – his first scrap under Virgil Hunter’s supervision – and he has scores to settle in the light division before moving up.
“I still want to fight at 140 and win titles at that weight and then move up to 147 as a world champion,” he added. “There are still two fights out there are 140 against Petersen and Garcia – they are fights I want and that are there for me, so I don’t see why I should move up.” Reports had suggested Khan’s team had tried to nail down a Peterson rematch for April, with the likes of Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez also mentioned. As a result, some have taken the 33-year-old Diaz to be nothing more than a stand-in but, having worn the world title belt twice himself, Khan is certain he is not facing a mug.
“We got the fight I wanted,” he said. “Not many would take this fight on so I have a lot of respect for Diaz for taking it. “People will turn us down because they know this is a tough fight, even though last year wasn’t our best. We tried with some and didn’t didn’t happen, which is why I left England for a training camp without doing any press as I didn’t have a secure opponent.” Diaz’s resume is certainly lengthy – this will be his 49th fight – and he will bring close to 300 boxed rounds to the ring. He admits, though, to having struggled to find a weakness in Khan’s performance against Molina.
