KELL BROOK PRODUCED one of the greatest performances of his career to defeat old rival Amir Khan in six rounds tonight.
Khan, renowned for his speed, and also his vulnerability, showed his age this evening and while he did not say afterwards whether he planned to retire or not, the conclusive evidence is that he should.
It took only 51 seconds of the sixth round for Brook to finish Khan off. There was a right uppercut, a left hook, another uppercut and finally Khan was stopped. He had been outclassed.
“I always knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time before I got him out of there,” said Brook afterwards to Sky Sports.
“What a feeling. These are the fights I wanted to be involved in when I walked into a gym. I’m King of the North and took out Amir Khan, just as I said I would.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself, I told everyone, and I did believe it. I always knew from 18 that I was a better boxer than him and tonight the fans got to see a mega fight and I dealt with it.”
Just look what it means to @SpecialKBrook 👏👏@Boxxer | #KhanBrook pic.twitter.com/GvkTgSag0D
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) February 19, 2022
Earlier, Natasha Jonas realised her dream of becoming world champion at the third attempt as she captured the vacant WBO female super-welterweight title with a clinical second-round stoppage of Chris Namus.
Jonas, who came up agonisingly short in a draw against Terri Harper 18 months ago and lost a narrow decision to Katie Taylor last May, was jumping up three weight classes to take on former 154lb titlist Namus in Manchester.
If there were any worries at how Jonas would handle a leap into the unknown they were soon banished as she put down her Uruguayan opponent twice before referee Howard Foster stopped the contest 28 seconds into the second round.
The Liverpool fighter, an ex-amateur standout who surprisingly weighed two pounds more than Namus at 149.25lbs at Friday’s weigh-in, looked switched on from the outset, landing punches in bunches and getting in and out of range.
The taller Namus, supported by Uruguayan compatriot and Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani at ringside, was sent crashing to the canvas for the first time by an overhand left, roundhouse right combination.
It looked a heavy knockdown and although Namus seemed to have recovered when the second round started she soon stumbled back to the canvas in a bout that served as the chief support to the Amir Khan-Kell Brook grudge match.
Namus’ corner threatened to throw in the towel as she got back to her feet but Foster had seen enough despite the 34-year-old’s protests to leave Jonas, aged 37, celebrating the finest moment of her professional career.
