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Stop me if you've heard this one before: Amir Khan is avoiding Kell Brook. Matchroom chairman Barry Hearn says Khan unrealistically chased Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao for years in an attempt to circumvent his domestic rival.
So far, Matchroom has only been able to stage preliminary talks with Khan's team about a June fight between Khan and Brook as Khan was waiting for Manny Pacquiao to name his next opponent. But the thing that really frustrated Hearn was that he says Khan was never highly considered for Pacquiao's next fight and that Khan spent the better part of the last two years being unrealistic.
"I asked Arum 'what percentage of a chance does Khan have of fighting Pacquiao?' Arum said 'less than one percent'. He had no chance."
"What I'm saying is that you have to be realistic and live in the real world. He spent 18 months chasing Floyd Mayweather without one percent chance of ever fighting Floyd Mayweather. Then he spent six months chasing Manny Pacquiao."
Obviously we all know by now that Khan wasn't selected as Pacquiao's next opponent. So now Khan doesn't really have any big-name options on the table outside of Brook, which shows promise to both Matchroom and a lot of fans who've wanted to see the two go at it for some time now.
"I'm getting more optimistic because, one-by-one, all of Khan's alternatives [are disappearing]," Hearn said.
"He doesn't want to fight Brook. He was gambling that he'd get a bigger payday but he'll get a lot of money for fighting Brook - but he may get beaten, and I think he probably will."
At the moment, with most of the top welterweights already lined-up for fights, it seems likely that Khan's best bet (financially speaking) would be to take on Brook. And though Khan now says he wants the fight with Brook, Barry Hearn doesn't necessarily believe that. Regardless, Khan will have to make a decision on his next move soon. Will he finally make the fight with Brook happen, or continue to say Brook needs to prove himself?