YESTERDAY, Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Eddie Hearn stoked the flames of a potential blockbuster fight between the two British welterweights. For years, fans have clamoured for the pair to settle their numerous differences in the ring but, so far, they’ve been left disappointed.

Then, Khan sent out a uncharacteristically aggressive tweet, telling the world that he will be the next man to beat Kell Brook after Gennady Golovkin bludgeoned him in September.

Naturally, Brook replied.

Khan sent his tweet while attending the WBC’s annual convention in Florida, where he also bumped into Brook’s promoter Hearn.

“I’ve had some good chats with Asif Vali [Khan’s manager], I saw Amir at the WBC convention,” Eddie told Boxing News.

“It was the first time in a while Khan’s properly called Kell out which is good, but we’ve been here before. I’m in touch with Asif Vali in the background and hopefully we can get it done.”

Though the dialogue between the two sides is certainly open, Hearn wouldn’t describe it as being ‘in talks’ for a fight. He remains confident that the superfight can be made, but he’s also not making any promises. In the past, Khan has previously insisted that he will not negotiate a fight with Brook if Hearn is involved – an impossibility given Brook’s promotional ties to Hearn and the fact there would be no way the fight could go on Sky Sports Box Office without the promoter.

Khan is also the WBC’s No1 challenger for the welterweight title currently held by Danny Garcia, who obliterated Amir in 2012. At the WBC convention Khan was given extra time to confirm his status as he is still recovering from an injured hand. The Bolton star had previously told Boxing News earlier this year that his first priority is a rematch with Garcia, after which he will turn his attention to Brook.

Of course, that plan may have changed given that Garcia is set to fight WBA champion Keith Thurman in March, tying him up for some time.

Brook remains the IBF world welterweight champion despite having jumped to middleweight in order to face Golovkin. As it stands, he has been granted a medical extension by the IBF due to the damage he suffered to his eye socket during the Golovkin fight. He is set to be ordered to fight mandatory challenger Errol Spence in 2017.

That could also affect a potential fight with Khan. Clearly, Brook values his title and his standing at 147lbs, otherwise he wouldn’t have committed his immediate future to the division after having fought at 160lbs in September. As such, he could also be tied up until the second half of 2017 – and it’s no foregone conclusion that he would beat the undefeated Spence. A loss to a quality – but not wholly proven – contender like Spence would massively diminish a fight with Khan.

But, as it always does in prizefighting (the clue’s in the name), everything comes down to money. Khan and Brook will not make more money elsewhere than the sums they’d gather if they fought each other. 2016 has seen the ongoing saga between the two steadily bubble over as they engaged in a dangerous game of one-upmanship, with Brook electing to take on middleweight terror Golovkin after Khan had been flattened by Canelo Alvarez at a 155lb catchweight.

At their basest, instinctive levels – where business decisions are typically not made – both men want to fight each other. The devil is in the detail, though. There’s a countless list of hurdles that could get in the way of this fight being made and we don’t yet know if they can be cleared.

Both men hope to return to the ring around March time though it’s unlikely it would be against each other. They would likely prefer some sort of warm-up contest to shake off any rust, plus March already has a pay-per-view booked in the form of David Haye vs Tony Bellew.

Hearn also mentioned that Brook-Khan is more likely to take place up north, perhaps in Manchester.

For now, it’s encouraging to see both teams in dialogue but, as Hearn says, we’ve been here before.