Thursday’s pre-fight press conference ahead of the long-awaited grudge match between Amir Khan and Kell Brook descended into an ugly farce as the pair exchanged homophobic jibes in Manchester.
During a heated exchange, Khan also questioned the alleged racist comments made by his opponent, asking the Sheffield fighter why he had made remarks about smashing in his ‘poppadom chin’.
The pair have been embroiled in a fierce feud ever since they were amateurs, where Olympian Khan insists he would ‘school’ his impending opponent, and the tensions once again boiled over just two days ahead of the bout at the Manchester Arena.
The press conference between Amir Khan (left) and Kell Brook (right) descended into an ugly farce on Thursday afternoon
The pair hurled homophobic insults at each other, while Khan questioned allegedly racist comments made by Brook
Brook, explaining where the bitter rivalry has come from, revealed the pair had actually shared a room together while on the England team in the amateur days.
Khan swiftly interjected, stating: ‘That doesn’t sound right… don’t laugh. Listen, I haven’t shared a room with you, don’t be saying that. That doesn’t right, Kell, especially with the stuff I’ve heard.’
The Bolton fighter insisted he wouldn’t delve into the details when the Sheffield fighter asked him to elaborate, but a clearly angered Brook then responded with: ‘It’s you who was on gay sites ‘w****** yourself off.’
Adam Smith of Sky Sports attempted to diffuse the situation, but Khan then questioned his opponent over comments he had allegedly previously made.
‘You know I saw a video where you said that you were going to smash that poppadom chin in. You said that, didn’t you?’
Brook quickly questioned whether Khan as calling him racist, to which Khan responded: ‘Yeah, the way you sad that was really sad. You shouldn’t have said that.’
Explaining what he meant by the insult, Brook stated: ‘Everyone knows they’re very fragile, like your chin.’
The pair, who faced off at the end of an intense press conference, both fired homophobic slurs at each other
Khan questioned why Brook had made comments about smashing his ‘poppadom chin’
The pair also got into a heated exchange over the outcome of Saturday night’s Box Office event, with Khan insisting his major concern is the health of his long-term rival.
‘I’m worried about a few things,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘I’m worried about Kell’s health after the beating that I’m going to give him.
‘The beating he’s going to get is something he’s never got before and all the talking as well, we’re going to definitely put him in his place.
’10 years this has been going on for, this is my time to put him in his place. One thing I want to say, I think Kell has been very obsessed with my career, I think he’s a fanboy, that’s the honest truth.
‘I’ve been in his head for so long, probably need to start paying rent. We’ll go in there, put the words to a side, I can’t wait to get into the ring and put it to him.’
Khan warned he’s going to given Brook a beating he’s never experienced in his career before
Brook, who also revealed he may come in above the catchweight of 149lbs on Saturday night, which he would be fined heavily for, insisted he will get the knockout win.
‘We’re three sleeps away, he’s definitely going to sleep on Saturday night when I smash him in,’ he said. ‘We’re days away, he can say what he’s saying, after Saturday, nobody will care, you can go to Dubai and carry on doing what you’re doing.
‘Seven months we’ve been talking about this fight, I’ve been training since. It was agreed and then he came back to the table to change the contract again, it seems to be that he has only taken this fight because he thinks I’m half broken.
‘He’s made a massive mistake. I’ve been in Fuertaventura for six weeks, the world is going to see me going in there and destroying him.’
The pair also caught sight of each other at Wednesday’s media workout, where an intensely focused Brook looked razor sharp on the pads as he went to work with trainer Dominic Ingle.
Khan, meanwhile, was joined by his new trainer Brian McIntyre, as well has pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford, who he has trained with throughout a gruelling camp in American.
They will come together once again at Friday’s weigh-in, where they will square off one final time before the bout itself on Saturday night.