Khan, 29, firmly believes his own loss to Canelo was a better showing than Brook against ‘GGG’ and says the Sheffield man only took the fight to further enhance his reputation – knowing the bout was unwinnable.
Brook lost in five rounds to Golovkin at The O2 Arena in London, in what most see as a competitive fight for the first few rounds. Golovkin’s superior power, coupled with a broken orbital bone ultimately ended Brook’s brave challenge, although Khan is convinced ‘The Special One’ took his ring walk knowing he faced an impossible task.
“I think mentally, he went in to this fight winning (anyway) because he knew that he’s making a big paycheck,” Khan told FightHype.com.
“(Brook was thinking) I’ve just sold out an arena; well, Triple G really sold the arena, and I’m going to go in there and I know I’m going to get beat as he’s a bigger guy. (I) went up a weight and fought Canelo, but (I) was beating Canelo. When (I) got hit with that one shot and got stopped.
“Triple G was dominating him and he knew that, but he goes, ‘Look, I’m just going to go in there.’
“This is what I think, he went in there thinking he was always going to get beat, but he’s going to make more money. He made probably six times more, ten times more than what he normally makes fighting a normal bum.
“With him, it was, I think it was just one of those things where it was too much of a step up because he’s never really sold out an arena like that in England, he’s never fought in front of so many people. Maybe the hype he got as it was his first ever pay-per-view fight, so I think maybe that kind of got to him as well. Well I don’t think got to him; he knew that he was in a win-win situation, so it didn’t get to him. He just thought, ‘Look, I’ve got pay-per-view, the first pay-per-view, I’m making good money, I’m fighting a big name, and I’m going to get big recognition in America and in the UK. And everyone expects me to lose, so what can I lose? What’s the worst thing that can happen? Fuck all, people are expecting me to lose anyway.’”
On the stoppage of the fight, in which coach Dominic Ingle ended Brook’s night by throwing in the towel, Khan added: “(At the) end of day, his trainer…I mean, the trainers are looking out for the fighter, yes, but at the same time, they thought, okay, fine, it’s time now; he’s taking a whooping and this is what we can expect.
“He’s done his fair bit and showed the people that, yeah, you know, he’s boxed a few rounds and he’s been in the ring with Triple G. We knew he was going to get banged out and get beat up, so yeah, there you go, towels in and stop the fight.
“It’s a win-win situation for him and his stock’s going to rise after the fight (anyway),” said Khan.
