'Old man' Khan hints at retirement after brutal Brook defeat

By Sports Desk February 20, 2022

Amir Khan is contemplating retirement from boxing after admitting he is losing love for the sport in the wake of his loss to Kell Brook.

Brook defeated Khan in Manchester on Saturday, securing a sixth-round stoppage in a highly anticipated grudge match between the British rivals.

A sixth career loss – and third defeat in his last six fights - left 35-year-old Khan in a reflective mood.

He bravely battled on when under constant attack from a dominant Brook but was ultimately soundly beaten.

"I've had 40 fights, winning two world titles, fighting in America and around the world," Khan said to Sky Sports. 

"I need to sit down with my family. But it is more towards the end of my career.

"The love for the sport isn't there anymore and, in the ring, I didn't have excitement and that push. That's maybe a sign that I should call it a day. But let's see."

Khan added at the post-fight news conference: "The first time I felt like this was when I fought Bud [Terence] Crawford. I felt like I just can't get in the groove. I thought maybe it was just because he was that good. 

"But [against Brook] I tried and I just couldn't really get in the groove.

"It's something to think about it, definitely. I've always said I don't want boxing to retire me, I want to retire from boxing before it does that. 

"Punishment like that, sometimes in boxing - I know I showed a big heart and took some big shots - but sometimes too much of that can be harmful in the future.

"I've done more than I ever expected. Maybe I peaked too early in my career, I was at the Olympics at 17, I won the world title at 22. 

"I want to spend time with my kids and my family. I want to be there for my family, I want to take them to school and be that father.

"I'm 35 now, I've been in the game a very long time, I'm an old man now."

Brook, meanwhile, felt the Khan camp had embarked on mind games. After hitting a 49lbs catchweight imposed by Khan, he was forced to change his gloves in the ring just before the action got under way.

"I had to put different gloves on," said Brook. "He said he wasn't happy with my gloves.

"In the final moment in the ring, they said they wouldn't pay me unless I put new gloves on. We did all his demands and there were the weight issues.

"I dealt with everything. They did it all week. They tried to get in my head. To poke at me. I even had someone knock on my hotel room door at 3am this morning to disrupt my sleep!

"But I took care of business."

Ultimately, though, the rivals embraced in the ring after the fight.

"I've always had respect for him," explained Brook. "But when I didn't get it back? It's hard to like someone.

"But he took shots and tried to hold on. I respect him for that. He said we can get a coffee after!

"I've always wanted to have the fight with Amir - this grudge match is the icing on the cake for me. I can live at peace with myself, with my career now."

Related items

  • Walters rolls back clock with unanimous decision win over Adorno Walters rolls back clock with unanimous decision win over Adorno

    Jamaica’s former WBA featherweight world champion Nicholas “Axe Man” Walters, now campaigning at lightweight, continued his comeback with a 10-round unanimous decision win over Joseph Adorno in the ProBox main event at the Whitesands Events Center in Plant City, Florida, on Wednesday.

    The 38-year-old Walters, who returned from a six-and-a-half-year layoff last year, outworked his opponent for the most parts, as Adorno was also deducted a point for a punch after the bell in round nine.

    Walters’ recent squash matches with hapless Colombian journeymen, one of whom was over 45, might have suggested that this was more of a cash-out than a genuine attempt at a comeback. However, the Panama-based boxer proved that was very much not the case and that he clearly still had plenty in the tank.

    He steadily took apart the 24-year-old Adorno with crisp jabs over the course of 10 rounds.

    At the end, Walters won by scores of 95-94, 97-92, 98-91, as he claimed the WBA Continental Americas lightweight title and improved his ring record to 29 wins, 22 of which are by knockouts. He also has one loss and one draw.

    Adorno’s record has now slipped to 18 wins (15 kos) against four losses and two draws.

    Walters created history by becoming the first Jamaican to win a world boxing title at home, defeating Daulis Prescott via a 7th round TKO victory at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston for the WBA World Featherweight title.

  • Dillian Whyte makes winning return with victory over Christian Hammer Dillian Whyte makes winning return with victory over Christian Hammer

    Dillian Whyte made a winning return to the ring with a three-round victory over Christian Hammer in Ireland.

    The former WBC interim heavyweight champion, fighting for the first time since clearing his name of doping offences, proved too strong for his Romanian-born opponent in Castlebar, County Mayo.

    Hammer failed to get up from his stool for the fourth round, forcing the referee to stop the bout and hand Whyte his 30th professional victory.

    The 35-year-old Briton had not fought since his victory over Jermaine Franklin at Wembley in November 2022.

    He had been lined up to face Anthony Joshua last August but the proposed match-up never happened after Whyte tested positive for a banned substance.

    Whyte protested his innocence and was cleared to resume his career after it was accepted he had consumed a contaminated supplement.

  • Walters to continue comeback with headline bout against American Adorno on March 27 Walters to continue comeback with headline bout against American Adorno on March 27

    Jamaica’s former World Boxing Association (WBA) Super featherweight champion Nicholas “Axe man” Walters is set to continue his comeback later this month, when he squares off with American Joseph Adorno, at the White Sands Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

    Walters, who went into retirement shortly after he lost his unbeaten record to former pound for pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko in a seven-round bout in November 2016, will be hoping to extend his winning momentum on return to the ring for his 2024 debut on Wednesday, March 27. 

    The 38-year-old Walters had comeback victories over Luis Marmol in Colombia February 2023, and Reynaldo Esquivia, nine months later, and another against Adorno would certainly add impetus to his charge going forward.

    Although he doesn’t have a particular opponent that he craves, Walters hopes to get in the mix for big fights after this rust-shedding exercise.

    “My plan is to go down to 135, where the real warriors are fighting – all the big names. Being a world champion at 135 and a double-world champ [is the goal],” Walters said in a previous interview.

    The Panama-based Walters boasts a ring record of 28 wins (22 kos) against one loss and one draw, while Adorno has 18 wins (15 kos) against three losses and two draws.

    Walters had turned pro in 2008 after an amateur career that included bronze at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and two gold medals at the Caribbean Championships in 2005 and 2006. Within a few years he became one of the world’s most exciting fighters of the lower weight divisions after defeating big names like Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan.

    Originally from Montego Bay on Jamaica’s north coast, Walters became the first Jamaican ever to win a world boxing title at home when he defeated Daulis Prescott via a seventh round TKO to cop the WBA World Featherweight title in December 2012.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.