While talk continues to grow and then shrink over a Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez superfight, two of the duo's most recent opponents could be about to meet for the first time.
Kell Brook lost his unbeaten career record to GGG earlier this year, just four months after Canelo stopped Amir Khan in the sixth round at the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada.
And promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Brook and Khan - two of British boxing's biggest draws at middleweight - are "in talks" over a May 2017 bout.
Khan had dropped a hint about the potential bout overnight, sharing a photo of him and Golovkin in which he suggested he would follow the undefeated Kazakh in "smashing Brook's face".
https://twitter.com/amirkingkhan/status/808841683915960321
Khan moved up two weight divisions to take on Canelo at middleweight, and suffered his first loss in four years against the Mexican.
Brook, meanwhile, had been a welterweight stalwart before stepping up for his fifth-round loss to Golovkin, in which
trainer Dominic Ingle intervened to protect the Sheffield fighter from serious injury.
"Amir wants [the fight] to happen, so does Kell. We want to put a fight on for the fans," Hearn told the
BBC.
"Kell has proved himself. He beat Shawn Porter and had a good fight with Golovkin. The time is right."
While discussions are still at an early stage, Hearn suggested that the potential bout could take place in Manchester, where Bolton-born Khan has fought on many occasions before.
