FRUSTRATED BROOK RAGES AT ‘AMIR CON’
I’ve done a hell of a lot worse than Williams’ outburst, says McEnroe, recalling his “Superbrat” days
KELL BROOK branded Amir Khan a “con man” as he accused his British rival of running scared.
Brook, who faces Michael Zerafa tomorrow, shook hands with Khan last month on a fight five years in the making.
But Khan looks set to renege on the deal and take on world champion Terence Crawford in March instead, leaving Brook furious. He said: “Amir Khan is a con man, they should call him Amir Con.
“This is his last big fight under Matchroom and I thought it was nailed on.
“He shook my hand, looked me dead in the eye and said we would fight next. What can I do? I’ve bent over backwards and said I’d come down to 147lb. “I’m doing everything I can for the fans, he’s turned his back on them. Everyone knows it’s him that’s running off.” Khan (left) has been offered £4million to face Crawford in New York and has insisted the fight with Brook JOHN McENROE says Serena Williams need never apologise for her US Open meltdown because he did far worse.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion accused umpire Carlos Ramos of being a “liar” and a “thief ” as she lost the New York final to Naomi Osaka – then claimed her treatment was “sexist” after getting three code violations.
The American superstar has not played since – she plans to return in Abu Dhabi later this month – and has not spoken about her reaction.
But McEnroe, who was disqualified from the 1990 Australian Open for his outrageous behaviour, said: “If thief is the worst word she used, I have got some bad news for you.
“There are a lot of other players, including myself, in a lot of other sports, that have done far worse. Come on.
“If I use a four-letter word and say that you are a “blanking blank”, which let’s say hypothetically I have used in the past, do you think that would be worse than saying that you are a thief? She was absolutely right to say men have got away with worse. I am surprised she didn’t invoke my name there. I wasn’t disappointed, just surprised!”
McEnroe (below, smashing his racquet in 1981) took a volley of abuse last year when he claimed Williams would be ranked “like 700 in the world” if she played in the men’s game.
He refused to apologise for that, but the 59-yearold was certainly more politically correct yesterday.
“The way it panned out with Serena, she was wrong and so was the umpire,” he said. “Maybe she just wanted it too bad. In the end, she shot herself in the foot.” McEnroe added Andy Murray would have to decide on his future in 2019 if he has not recovered his full fitness after hip surgery.
“If he’s healthy, he’ll be back in the top five. But if he’s not, he’d have a hard time being able to keep playing if he was playing at 80 per cent and he’s 20 in the world,” he said.
“It depends what you’re willing to settle for. It might be eight in the world, one in the world, 20 in the world – it depends what you can accept.” (right) will “always be there”. But promoter Eddie Hearn has warned him against that assumption.
He said: “I want the fight that’s going to create the legacy in this country, and that’s Brook against Khan. It’s a massive fight where Amir can make twice as much money as the Crawford fight.
“Amir seems to think the Brook fight is always there but it’s not.”