Amir Khan v Kell Brook: Rivals to face each other in Manchester on 19 February



The AO Arena in Manchester will be the site of the match between Kell brook and Amir Khan.

The long-term rivals have finally agreed to a match.

Since being stopped in the fourth round by American Terence Crawford in November 2020, Kell Brook has not fought.

The fight will be on pay-per-view in the UK.

After winning a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, Khan went on to win 34 of his 34 fights.

In his 22nd fight, the 34 year-old fighter won his first world title when he defeated the then 29-year-old Kotelkik for the WBA light-welterweight belt in 2009.

Between August of 2014 and May of last year, the IBF champion was Kells, who won 29 bouts with three defeats.

The rivalry started in 2010.

The rivalry has been going on for more than a decade.

In 2010, when Khan held the title, he was called out by brook. In October 2012 the fighters sat side-by-side on Sky Sports boxing show Ringside, with both men sharing their own versions of sparring stories on how they "schooled" the other.

The fight didn't happen as Khan moved to the US. He was still a big draw in the US despite back-to-back losses against Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia, and he recorded victories against Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander.

In the year of 2014, Kell Brook was focused on his own charge towards a world title and enjoyed arguably his greatest night in the sport when he defeated American Shawn Porter on points to become IBF welterweight champion.

The bad blood continued.

In the fourth round of his victory over Jo Jo Dan, he once again called out Khan.

"Brook has to wait and instead try to fight Floyd and Manny, bouts that would have a greater global appeal," Khan said.

In May of 2016 Khan was knocked out by Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

In September of 2016 he broke his right eye in a loss to Gennadiy Golovkin in the 160-pound division, and eight months later he broke his left eye in a loss to Errol Spence Jr.

Two years later, he blamed Khan for a fight not taking place and said he had let the public down.

Both boxers were defeated by Crawford, Khan being pulled out by his corner in the sixth round after he claimed he was hit by a low blow.

In the past three and a half years, Khan and Brook have fought four times. By the time they meet in Manchester, they will have been out of the ring for more than a year.

With losses on their records, inactive and past their prime, it seemed a clash between Khan and Brook would pass us by.

They are deserving of a pay day.

Kal Sajad is a sports reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Khan v Book is not the fight it once could have been, but some fans think it is a case of'better late than never'. This was the biggest all-British clash in boxing and could have sold out any stadium in the country.

Although they are not in their prime, there is still genuine animosity between two fighters who have been fighting for years. There are a lot of 'grudges' between rivals in the past, but this is the biggest of them all. The build-up will be fun.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn suggests that both fighters are looking for one last pay day. Khan and Brook have treated us to some great nights in the sport, from Khan cracking America to the amazing performance he gave against Porter, it was nothing short of amazing.

Perhaps they are deserving of that pay day for all they have achieved in the sport and the way in which they have represented British boxing on the world scene.