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Amir Khan vs Kell Brook finally set to happen, will take place in Manchester

Amir Khan

It's a fight that has been in the making for years...

Domestic rivals Amir Khan and Kell Brook will finally settle their long-running grudge on February 19.
After a decade of calling each other out, former WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion Khan, 34, and ex-IBF welterweight champion Brook, 35, will meet in Manchester.
Many will argue the pair are settling scores long past their prime but promoter Ben Shalom, from BOXXER, says the fight still carries weight.
"Khan and Brook are icons of the sport in Britain and this will be an iconic encounter," he said. "Their rivalry has simmered for years, they are still by far the best welterweights in the country and the eyes of the world will be on them when they square off in February to finally settle the question about which of them is the better man.
"This is a fight every boxing fan has wanted to see for years. It's the biggest fight in British boxing right now outside of Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury and we're delighted to be able to deliver this legacy-defining clash live and exclusively on Sky Sports Box Office."
Brook said: "I'm sick of people coming up to me asking me when I'm going to fight him. February 19 is when he hits the deck for the final time.
"He's never given me respect, acknowledged me. He's always ran away and it's come to this part of our career when there's nowhere else for him to run. It's been frustrating for me, I've wanted this for many years."
Khan added: "I've never ran from him, never needed to, what I've achieved in sport speaks for itself, but we're here now. At the end of the day, the talk he's been giving, February 19, he needs to back them words up."
Former WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion Khan, 34, last fought in July 2019 when a victory over Billy Dib took his record to 34-5 (21 KOs).

Brook, an ex-IBF welterweight title holder, was most recently in action with defeat to WBO championย Terence Crawford in November 2020. The 35-year-old's record is 39-3 (27 KOs).

The last chapter

Khan and Brook will now end their rivalry inside the ring. In 2014, it was THE fight to make in British boxing with Brook becoming IBF welterweight world champion with a stunning victory over Shawn Porter in America.

Khan meanwhile had just defeated Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander and was ranked No.1 in the WBC rankings. Negotiations would take place but the fight never happened with Khan choosing to fightย Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in 2016 for the WBC and Ring Magazine titles at middleweight.

The former two-time junior welterweight champion gave a brilliant account of himself in the opening five rounds, outboxing the Mexican but in round six, Canelo delivered a crushing knockout to end proceedings. Since then, Khan has been inactive with injuries fighting just four times with the biggest fight being againstย Terence Crawford in 2020 - ending with a TKO defeat.

Brook also moved up in weight after growing tired of fighters at 147lbs avoiding him and took onย Gennadiy Golovkin in 2016. Similar to Khan, he made a good start against GGG but suffered a damaged eye socket in a five-round loss.

An 11th round TKO defeat toย Errol Spence Jr at welterweight followed next for Brook, who fractured his other eye in the process. After fluctuating in weight, Brook returned to 147lbs in 2020 and got stopped by WBO titlist Crawford in round four at the MGM Grand.

The fight is reminiscent of Roy Jones' rematch against Bernard Hopkins and more recent, Floyd Mayweather's 'Fight of the Century' battle with Manny Pacquiao. Is the fight past its sell by date? Yes. But this is a compelling rivalry that captured the imagination of British fans all those years ago and a fight everyone will tune into, with it possibly being the last fight of their illustrious careers.

Read more:ย "You can't go swimming and not get wet" - Tyson Fury's five funniest quotes

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