Kell Brook Proves Dominant, Defeats Amir Khan by 6th-Round TKO

It was a long time coming, but Kell Brook and Amir Khan finally settled their bitter feud in the boxing ring. Brook (40-3, 28 KOs) would get the last laugh, using his power to overwhelm Khan (34-6, 21 KOs) and come away with a sixth-round TKO victory on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.

The big question coming into the fight was which fighter would hold up under the pressure. Khan, who has been downed several times in his career, turned out to be the one who folded. He was hurt early on, and his vaunted hand speed had clearly diminished. He couldn't keep Brook from nailing him with powerful combinations.

Khan and Brook spent years in each others' orbit during their primes, contending for titles in and around the welterweight ranks. The two stars came close to putting together a blockbuster in the mid-2010s, but it never came to fruition. Now, with both men 35 years old and outside of the championship circuit, they were finally able to make a deal and deliver fans the rivalry match they wanted.

The stats show Brook, a former IBF world welterweight champion, had an overwhelming advantage in power punches.

He was composed throughout the event, even after a delay of the fight over an apparent glove dispute:

Khan, a unified champion at junior welterweight in 2011, talked up his training with Terence "Bud' Crawford to ESPN's Nick Parkinson ahead of Saturday's grudge match. Crawford had beaten both men in recent years, but Khan was unable to translate whatever tips and tactics Bud passed along into success.

It was all Brook out of the gate, as Khan's notoriously suspect chin let him down in the first round. Brook wobbled Khan with a barrage of punches about halfway through the frame. Khan tried to act like the combination didn't hurt him, but his legs told a different story.

Khan recovered well enough to get through the second round without taking too much more damage. He moved around the ring and kept Brook from setting up shop in front of him.

The tactics paid off briefly in the third round as he looked to gain the upper hand on his opponent, but the good work was soured as Brook's power shots staggered him toward the end of the round. It was a similar story in the fourth, as Brook kept finding a home for his right-handed power shots.

It surely didn't help Khan that he had been out of the ring since July 2019. A sharper version of him might've been able to make things more difficult for Brook, but the speed wasn't there. Brook battered him again in the fifth round, and the sixth wasn't much different. The referee saw that Khan couldn't keep Brook at bay and saved him from further damage.

This was Brook's first fight since losing to Crawford by stoppage in November 2020. He looked sharp from the outset and may have more left in the tank if he's looking for another payday.

Khan, meanwhile, might be wise to consider retirement. He's suffered some brutal knockouts in his career, and the situation isn't likely to get better for him as he ages.