By Keith Idec

Kell Brook doesn’t downplay how much he wants to beat Amir Khan.

The former IBF welterweight champ told The Star, his hometown newspaper in Sheffield, that fighting Khan would mean more to him at this stage of his career than winning another world title. Brook (36-2, 25 KOs) is set to battle Belarus’ Sergey Rabchenko (29-2, 22 KOs) in his debut as a full-fledged junior middleweight March 3 in Sheffield.

A long-discussed domestic meeting with Khan is the big fight Brook seeks, though, even more than a title shot at 154 pounds.

“That’s a very hard one,” Brook told The Star for a story that appeared on its website Thursday. “I think I have to say, right now, it would be Khan. That would be the more exciting of the two. Also, it’s probably easier winning a world title than it is to get him to sign a contract.”

Securing what would be a lucrative showdown with Brook is believed to be one of the primary reasons Khan signed a three-fight contract with promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing last month.

Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) is scheduled to face Canada’s Phil Lo Greco (28-3, 15 KOs) in his Matchroom debut April 21 at Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. The former IBF/WBA super lightweight champion hasn’t fought since Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) knocked Khan unconscious in the sixth round of their WBC middleweight title fight in May 2016.

The Khan-Lo Greco fight will be contested at a catch weight of 150 pounds. A Khan-Brook bout likely would be fought at the junior middleweight limit, one pound less than the catch weight at which Khan challenged Alvarez (155 pounds).

“I am going to be there at his next fight, so it will be good for me to be seen there,” Brook said. “Then we’ll see what happens. You never know what’s going to happen in boxing.”

Brook just hopes he can fight Khan while both boxers remain in their physical primes. Khan and Brook are the same age (31).

“I want to get round the table with him and get it done,” said Brook, who has been stopped by Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. in his past two fights. “I have been a world champion and loved it, but the buzz of fighting Khan would be beyond even that. Everybody would want to see that fight. I just hope we can do it. We are not getting any younger.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.