Amir Khan claims he is trying to get a fight with British welterweight rival Kell Brook over the line, despite it being six years since the match-up was the talk of the domestic scene when both fighters were at their respective peaks.
Both are former world champions, but lost recent challenges against current welterweight king Terence Crawford. Khan is viewed by many as the chief reason a fight against Brook hasn't happened sooner, though the exact nature of their consistently-failed discussions is something only known by a select few behind the scenes.
On Talksport this past weekend, Khan insisted he wants to make the fight happen before they both retire, and that it'd still entertain a lot of fans despite not being as big as it could have been.
“Everyone wants to see the Kell Brook fight. We’ve been talking about it for years and years," Khan said.
“Look, me and Kell are probably past our best, I’ll be honest. But at the same time, we’re both around the same age. I think it’d be a good fight between us to see still who the number one is in Britain.
“So I called Eddie Hearn and I said, ‘Let’s make it happen.’ Eddie said, ‘No worries,’ spoke to Kell’s family and Kell’s father wasn’t interested in it, he said, ‘No, we’re gonna look at other options.’
“What other option is there for Kell Brook to make a good payday and fight someone with a big name like myself? Unless he fights someone with a world title or in America.
“So I’m scratching my head man, I’m thinking like, ‘What’s he going through?’ What’s going on with Kell Brook? How come he doesn’t want the fight? Let’s make it happen.”
He went on to admit the fight may not even happen in the UK, though that would be his first choice.
“Let’s be realistic here, a fight in the Middle East, obviously that could happen over there," he continued. “We have a big fan base in the Middle East and my last fight against Billy Dib was there.
“But really, why should we go there when we could do it here in the UK? We’re both British fighters, let’s make it in the UK.
“Doing that in a football stadium here, that could be massive. So let’s hope things open up. Once things open up properly and we sort out the third or fourth wave, let me put a beating on Kell Brook.”
Khan concluded by admitting only Brook and the legendary Manny Pacquiao interest him before he retires, and offered his prediction for the Brook bout if it happened.
He said: “The only two fights out there for me in my opinion is Kell Brook or Manny Pacquiao. Your body is breaking and you need to call it a day one day. So I am giving it the last, last chapter of my boxing career. I get either fight and I call it a day…
“The prediction for me and Kell Brook? I knock out Kell Brook in under six rounds.”