It may come as a surprise that Amir Khan did not select Terence Crawford, or even Canelo Alvarez, when asked to name the ‘smartest’ fighter he ever boxed.
After losing his IBF and WBA world titles at super-lightweight, Khan moved up to 147lbs and amassed a solid run of victories against the likes of Luis Collazo, Devon Alexander and Chris Algieri.
Everything was going according to plan until the Olympic silver medallist jumped up to face Canelo, the then-WBC world middleweight champion, at a catchweight of 155lbs.
As expected, his bold assignment in 2016 ended in devastating fashion, with Canelo ultimately stopping his man in the sixth round via a knockout he later said made him fear for Khan’s wellbeing.
It was just under three years later that Khan, following two comeback victories, challenged Terence Crawford for the WBO world welterweight title.
Once again, the Bolton man was halted in the sixth frame after suffering an early knockdown and not offering the pound-for-pound superstar, who recently beat Canelo to become a four-weight world champion, a great deal of resistance.
Brook is credited by Khan as being a “really clever fighter,” but the most intelligent operator he came up against was Danny Garcia, who stopped him with a pulverizing left hook in the fourth round of their super-lightweight encounter in 2012.
Speaking with Ring Magazine, Khan praised the way in which Garcia delivered the fight-ending shot.
“Danny Garcia set that trap up – throwing that left hook, so perfect. He was taking a beating until he landed that big shot. Him and Kell Brook as well. Kell Brook was a really clever fighter.”
Garcia, a two-weight world champion, amassed a record of 38 wins from 42 fights, beating the likes of Zab Judah, Erik Morales and Lamont Peterson. He scored a knockout win in his farewell fight earlier this year, stopping Daniel Gonzalez inside four rounds before calling time on his career at 38-years-old.
