![]() Khan needed to engage less but could never allow himself to retreat. ![]() ![]() The menace was palpable, the pace frantic as Brook hunted remorselessly. A single shot rocked Khan, forcing him to cover up desperately. The pace dropped a fraction in the third before exploding in the closing 30 seconds when Brook caught Khan unawares coming out of a clinch. Khan peppered Brook in the second without hurting him. Khan was back where it seems he has always been, reeling in a storm.Īlready this seriously spiteful fight was as intense as any witnessed in a British ring. A Khan salvo raised the temperature and then Brook landed heavily. Brook on his toes a ball of coiled energy, landed first with an exploratory jab. Khan strayed deliberately into Brook territory before returning to his corner where Crawford, the pound-for-pound standard bearer and conqueror of both, whispered conspiratorially in his ear. I give you, among others, Jack Grealish, Edinson Cavani, Jamie Carragher and Noel Gallagher, who placed himself at the heart of the celebratory huddle in the Brook changing room afterwards, a champagne supernova washing over the scene.īrook entered the ring first, deadly serious, circling. What a spectacle it was, augmented by the usual smattering of ringside divas from the world of music and sport. Rinsing the preening Eubank could never match this. Though this engagement did not test him as others have, the three heavy defeats suffered to Gennady Golovkin, Errol Spence and Terence Crawford might yet slow him were he to be tempted by Chris Eubank Jnr. Brook was recognised by the boxing priesthood, the cognoscenti, but the crossover appeal of Khan was never in his gift. The celebrity and acclaim that followed Khan around the world was not his destiny no matter his obvious accomplishments. This rivalry always mattered more to him. Khan could do little to knock Brook off his stride (Photo: Reuters) I can live at peace with myself now,” he said. But he knew this would be the night that would define him. Time to spend those paychecks and have time with my kids.”īrook’s victory over Shawn Porter in America eight years ago was one of the best by a British boxer on foreign soil. Maybe I peaked too soon, Olympics at 17, world title at 22. As an Olympic silver medallist at 17, a performance that guaranteed the funding that enabled British boxing’s subsequent Olympic successes, and a two-time world champion, Khan has delivered one of the great careers in British boxing. He was responding to the obvious question about retirement. But too much of that can be a bad thing later on in life,” Khan said summarising his position. “I showed a big heart, took some big shots. Khan looked what he was, a 35-year-old boxer falling to a sixth career defeat on worn tyres. Thirty-six hours after they stepped off the scales Khan was throwing welterweight punches at a fully-fledged middleweight. Khan poured every ounce of his being into a contest that was set at 149 pounds. The contest passed without trauma for Brook because in the end, like Achilles standing over Hector, he was just too big and too strong. I could tell that straight away.” The animus could not, however, survive a conflict of Homeric dimension and scale.Īfterwards, suffuse in mutual respect, they embraced, as fighters almost always do. For him the acrimony and bitterness of the build-up was genuine. Boxing Tonight: Jesse Rodriguez has everything except the veteran head of Rungvisai 25 June, 2022 Joshua says he is using the prospect of Fury fight as motivation for Usyk rematch 21 June, 2022 Joshua and Usyk have opted for Saudi Arabia despite controversy as rematch confirmed 19 June, 2022īrook visited on Khan a terrible, animalistic fury.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |