Kell Brook stops Amir Khan in sixth round to win grudge match

Twenty years since they first met in the ring as amateurs, and after more than a decade of simmering animosity between them, Kell Brook finally gained the sweet vindication he has craved for so long when he stopped Amir Khan in the sixth round on Saturday night in Manchester. Brook reacted to his crushing victory with euphoria while Khan looked dazed and broken after he was helped to his corner.

The end, when it came, was as predictable as it was bleak for Khan. He protested meekly to the referee, Victor Loughlin, but he had suffered heavy punishment and, backed up helplessly against the ropes as Brook pummelled him, there could be only one outcome. One last uppercut, which followed percussive combinations, rocked Khan’s head back and, thankfully, Loughlin called a halt to the contest 51 seconds into round six.

Khan had come out fast and thrown some flashy combinations before the true pattern of the fight was established.

Brook nailed him with a stiff left hand which made Khan stagger backwards. Despite the shake of his head, it was clear that Khan had been hurt. They had to be separated at the bell but Brook had the look of a man who knew that he was about to dominate the rival he had despised for over a decade.

It seemed as if Brook hurt Khan every time he landed with real intent. Khan has always been an immensely brave fighter, however, and he fought back and tagged Brook occasionally with his fast hands. But Brook went downstairs to the body in the fourth round before, with calm deliberation, he began to really open up in the fifth. Khan tried to backpedal away but he could not stem the dark surge of trouble that finally engulfed him. It was a relief when it was all over.

Their grudge match had always been bitterly