Boxer Amir Khan has taken a somewhat bizarre route on his latest barrage of insults to fellow Brit Kell Brook, telling the Sheffield native to open up about rumors of him being gay.
It seems inevitable that Khan and Brook will meet inside the squared circle before long, and in advance of the match-up between the two domestic rivals, Olympic silver medalist Khan has opened up by throwing insults before they throw down in the ring.
In an interview with English tabloid The Sun, Khan brought up allegations regarding Brook’s sexuality in a presumed attempt to get a verbal one-up on his rival ahead of a potential fight next year.
“There’s talks about [Brook] being gay,” Khan said. “I mean, if you are a real man, come out and say ‘yeah, you know, I’m gay’ and it is what it is. Come out and tell the truth. Speak out about it. Don’t be afraid.”
“If he is a confident man he needs to come out and tell the world who he really is, because people wanna know about him. People wanna know who is this Kell Brook,” he added.
Doubling down on the claims, Khan said that he suspected that a knife attack suffered by Brook four years ago was related to his sexuality.
Brook was attacked in Tenerife four years ago by man wielding a machete and was left requiring 32 metal staples in a significant wound on his thigh.
“Tell us what happened when you got stabbed,” he said. “I mean, was it because tried it on with some poor guy? He tried to get it on with some poor guy. I mean these are things that have been told from his own camp.
“I mean I wasn’t there to see it but I’ve been told and he’s living a crazy life. So maybe that’s why he’s dying for this fight against me, because he knows he needs that quick payday. Let’s see,” Khan said.
According to The Sun, Brook declined a riposte to Khan’s comments preferring instead to punish his opponent in the ring, he said.
Brook holds a record of 38-2 and has rebounded with two wins in his last two fights after successive defeats to Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. Meanwhile, Khan owns a 33-4 record but hasn’t been defeated since a May 2016 reverse to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
In January of this year Khan and Brook came face to face in the ring after Khan’s first-round win against Phil Lo Greco in Liverpool. Brook, who was part of the fight’s commentary team, entered the ring after the fight and squared off with Khan, who promised to “fight and beat” his rival.
