STAR PREVIEW Sat: Amir Khan v Kell Brook

The bitter feud between Amir Khan and Kell Brook will finally reach its conclusion this weekend as the two former world champions clash at Manchester’s AO Arena to settle their differences. This rivalry has been brewing for the last decade and on Saturday night, we will finally get to discover who is the better fighter live on Sky Sports Box Office.

For Amir Khan, this could be the last fight of his glittering career. After winning an Olympic silver medal aged just 17, he went on to become unified champion (WBA & IBF) at super lightweight between 2009-2012. Now aged 35, Khan is at the back end of his career but is still regarded as one of the finest boxers the UK has ever produced.

Khan’s record stands at 34-5 (21KO) and despite his natural talent, four of his five defeats have come via knockout. The Bolton man has earned a reputation for having a ‘glass chin’ which is slightly unfair given the calibre of fighter he has consistently fought against but he is susceptible to being hurt and protecting those vulnerabilities will be his main task against Brook this weekend.

Kell Brook is a mercurial talent who has long been considered one of the most naturally gifted fighters in the country. Fighting out of the famous Ingle Gym in Sheffield, the Yorkshireman claimed the IBF Welterweight title in 2014 with a victory over Shawn Porter and at that point, Team Brook had genuine hope he would go on to dominate the welterweight division for years to come.

But the career of Brook hasn’t quite reached the heights that people hoped. After winning that world title, he made three swift defences against very low-level opposition before jumping up to middleweight in 2016, where he was stopped emphatically by Gennady Golovkin and suffered a broken eye socket in the process.

Brook returned to the ring in 2017 back at welterweight but suffered another devastating defeat to Errol Spence Jr in which he suffered yet another broken eye socket. Since those back-to-back defeats, Brook has fought four times in four years but never looked the same fighter. His latest defeat, to Terence Crawford, was in 2020 and he was knocked out inside four rounds.

Brook is not the fighter he once was but neither is Khan. The Bolton native hasn’t exactly set the world alight in recent years and his latest defeat was also to Terence Crawford who he has interestingly added to his team for this contest.

These two fighters may not be as good as they once were but that doesn’t mean the fight won’t deliver. Both men are now fully aware of their vulnerabilities and will enter this fight ready to leave it all in there as they know this could be their last outing as a professional boxer.

Trying to work out who wins this is an incredibly difficult task and it ultimately comes down to who has the most left in the tank. Khan has the obvious vulnerability around his chin but Brook has suffered some real damage in recent years. If you look at recent form, the odds for Brook (8/13) are alarmingly short and you can’t ignore the temptation to back Khan at (11/8).

Ultimately, we won’t know who has the most left until the opening bell goes on Saturday and backing either fighter comes with risks. When assessing all outcomes, Khan does have more ways to win this fight. He is faster, more agile and has handled fight week the better of the two. He is by no means a certainty for this weekend but at (11/8), Amir Khan to win is an appealing bet.

This is all about the main event but there is one eye catching bet on the undercard. Manchester based Bradley Rea takes on Irelands Craig McCarthy over eight rounds and Rea is quickly gaining a reputation as one the brightest prospects in the country.

The local lad will have a big following in Manchester this weekend will want to put on a show for his supporters. At 11-0 (4KO) he is entering a pivotal part in his development and will want to kick off 2022 with a statement victory. McCarthy is a tough man but he is 34 and has been kept inactive by the recent pandemic. His record of 8-0-1 (2KO) doesn’t hold any real form and with just two knockouts in his eight wins, he will struggle to keep Rea off this weekend.

Rea is odds against for the knockout but there is some value in him finishing this fight inside four rounds at (13/8).

Click here to check out the range of specials we have over at starsports.bet for this fight between Amir Khan and Kell Brook!

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RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Amir Khan to win 1pt at 11/8 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Bradley Rea to win in rounds 1-4 1pt at 13/8 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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PROFIT/LOSS (FEBRUARY 2022): +17.53 points
(Excluding ante-post recommendations CLICK HERE)

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