Former world champion Kell Brook has announced his retirement from boxing, three months after beating bitter rival Amir Khan.
Brook, who was crowned welterweight world champion in 2014, bows out at the age of 36 with a record of 40-3. His defeats came at the highest level against middleweight Gennady Golovkin, a mandatory title defence against Errol Spence, and against pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford.
Brook finally secured a clash with Khan in February after years of chasing his domestic foe. The Sheffield star dominated from the first bell before stopping his rival in the sixth round. Khan had been interested in pursuing a rematch despite the one-sided nature of the bout while Brook had also discussed a fight with Chris Eubank Jr. But he has no decided to hang up his gloves.
"I've had a long chat with my family and my parents, and it's over for me. I'll never box again," Brook told the Sunday Telegraph. "It's a little emotional to be actually saying this out loud. My mum is relieved. I think everyone around me is pleased. Truth is, boxing is a very very tough, dangerous sport, one in which you can be legally killed in the ring, and I've finished now with all my faculties intact."
Brook, who also demanded £10million to fight Conor Benn, added that he had to wait until he had beaten Khan before he could retire. "I needed the Khan fight, I needed to settle the grudge, the feud," he said.
"There is no dark feeling left in me now, I think when you have been in the ring with someone it passes, it leaves you. Me and Amir said some words which were hateful in the build-up, but that's what happens in boxing. But I respect him after the fight. He showed real heart in there."
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Brook won his world title by outpointing Shawn Porter in California before making three straightforward defences against Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin and Kevin Bizier. He was then stopped by Golovkin in a brutal fight which left Brook with a fractured eye socket.
Brook lost his belt to Spence before attempting another run at a world title, this time at light-middleweight, with victories over Mark DeLuca, Michael Zerafa and Sergey Rabchenko. But Brook returned to welterweight in 2020 when he was stopped by Crawford before his swansong against Khan.
