Amir Khan says 'I feel 25 again' and tipped to KO Kell Brook by new trainer after hellacious training in snowy mountains

January 07, 2022

Amir Khan has been backed to knock out Kell Brook by Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, his new trainer who has already plotted Brook’s downfall once before.

Khan and Brook's lengthy rivalry which stems from their teenage years will finally be settled on February 19 in Manchester, live on Sky Sports Box Office, in the biggest all-British fight outside of the heavyweight division.

Khan's training camp has been spent in Omaha and Colorado in the US, alongside his former opponent Terence Crawford and under the watchful eye of trainer BoMac.

BoMac was in pound-for-pound phenom Crawford's corner when he defeated both Khan and Brook.

He told Sky Sports that Khan can emulate Crawford by stopping Brook: "Yes, I believe he can.

"After seeing what Crawford did to Kell, I believe that Amir can do the same thing.

"Brook will do what he has to do to win. That's what we call the storm.

"Once you get past the storm? It's downhill after that.

"You've got to mentally prepare for that. In the corner, we say: 'This is the storm that we talked about in the gym'."

Khan and Brook are contracted to make 149lbs (two pounds above the welterweight limit) and BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom has revealed they will incur a six-figure fine if they miss weight.

"The weight won't be a problem," insisted Khan who says he currently weighs 159lbs with six weeks to go.

He has been sparring four-minute rounds, with just 30 seconds to rest in between, and has been running four miles through the snowy Colorado mountains with BoMac following in a car and monitoring his performance.

"My chest is burning but this is what makes you a champion," he told Sky Sports at 7,000ft altitude.

Khan, aged 35, insisted he can stop Brook: "I am more confident.

"I have had a few sparring rounds with Crawford and done mitt work with BoMac.

"It's back! I feel like I'm 25 or 26 again, at the peak of my career.

"I can't see Brook beating me.

"I'm a better skilled fighter. I have been in with better opposition.

"I will keep calm, I won't think too much, or get over-confident. But I know what to do. I have been in this position before.

"I'm glad Kell is taking it serious. We want to give the fans a massive fight.

"We will be fit and ready."

Khan is a former unified super-lightweight world champion but hasn't boxed for almost three years.

He famously previously trained in the US with Freddie Roach and Virgil Hunter but has thrown himself into the new methods of BoMac, who has focused on fine-tuning Khan's ability to fight at close-quarters.

"You want to make sure that he has it in the bank in case he needs to cash a cheque - that's what we saw in America," BoMac said.

"It's in the memory bank so if Brook tries to stay on top, and Khan needs to fight on the inside, he's ready for it because he trained in our camp.

"I won't have to say anything new to him in the corner because we have worked on it."

Sky Sports Boxing schedule

Sunday January 30 - Top Rank in Tulsa
Robson Conceicao vs Xavier Martinez - WBC super-featherweight title eliminator

Saturday February 5 (targeted) - BOXXER in Cardiff
Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams
Claressa Shields vs Ema Kozin - IBF, WBA and WBC middleweight titles

Sunday February 6 - Top Rank in Fresno
Jose Ramirez vs Jose Pedraza

Saturday February 19 - BOXXER in Manchester
Amir Khan vs Kell Brook

Saturday February 26 - BOXXER and Top Rank in Glasgow
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall - undisputed super-lightweight titles

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