Amir Khan (boxer)
Amir Khan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Amir Khan 8 December 1986 |
| Nationality | British |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Lightweight |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 19 |
| Wins | 18 |
| Wins by KO | 14 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's boxing | ||
 |
2004 Athens | Lightweight |
Amir Khan (Urdu: عامر خان), (born 8 December 1986) is a British boxer from Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.[1] He is the current Commonwealth lightweight champion and the remaining WBO Inter-Continental lightweight champion.[2] He is currently ranked at number 70 in the world in the lightweight division by Boxrec.[3]
Background
Khan was born and raised in Bolton, England. He is an avid supporter of his local football club, Bolton Wanderers, and uses the club's training facilities at the Reebok Stadium.
He was educated at Smithills School in Bolton and Bolton Community College. His first cousin is the England fast bowler Sajid Mahmood and his younger brother, Haroon Khan, is an amateur boxer.[4] He was a hyperactive child and "a born fighter", according to his father, who encouraged him to take up boxing.
Khan belongs to the Janjua Rajput clan[5] of Maira Matore in Rawalpindi, Pakistan,[6] which has a long and well documented history of warrior kings and a strong martial reputation.
He often uses his position as a well-known British Muslim to encourage better relations between British Muslims and the wider community, particularly in his home town of Bolton.
Amateur
Khan began boxing competitively at the age of 11, with early honours including three English school titles, three junior ABA titles and gold at the 2003 Junior Olympics.[7] In early 2004 he won a gold medal at the European Student Championships in Lithuania, and in South Korea several months later he won world junior lightweight title after fighting five times in seven days. Khan then rose to fame as Britain's sole representative in boxing at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning a silver medal at the age of 17 in the lightweight boxing category. He was Britain's youngest Olympic boxer since Colin Jones in 1976. He lost in the final to Mario Kindelan, the Cuban who had also beaten him several months earlier in the pre-Olympic match-ups in Greece. In 2005 he avenged the two losses by beating the 34 year old Kindelan in his final amateur fight.
Olympic results
- Round of 32: Defeated Marios Kaperonis of Greece (RSC-3)
- Round of 16: Defeated Dimitar Stilianov of Bulgaria (37-21)
- Quarterfinals: Defeated Jong Sub Baik of South Korea (RSC-1)
- Semifinals: Defeated Serik Yeleuov of Kazakhstan (40-26)
- Gold Medal Match: Lost to Mario Kindelan of Cuba (23-30)
Professional
2005–2006
Despite declaring after the 2004 Olympics that he would pursue a Gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Khan turned professional in 2005, signing with England's leading boxing promoter, Frank Warren. This was fuelled by a row with the English Amateur Boxing Association over the ticketing allocation for his family and friends at the English ABA Finals.
Khan moved from Lightweight to light welterweight for a single fight against French fighter Rachid Drilzane on 9 December 2006, winning a 10 round decision. Khan experienced the first knockdown of his career when his opponent caught him with a good left.[8] Drilzane had never scored a knockout in his 13 fight career. Khan returned to the lightweight division for future fights.
2007
On 7 April 2007, Khan beat Steffy Bull in a three round technical knockout in Cardiff.
On 14 July 2007 he faced Willie Limond for the Commonwealth lightweight title. During the fight Khan was knocked down in the 6th round and appeared to be hurt badly. However, after another barrage of right hands, Khan weathered the storm and in the seventh round knocked down Limond after a fierce exchange of punches. The referee stopped the fight on advice of the doctor; Limond had sustained a perforated eardrum, broken jaw and damaged right eye.
On 6 October 2007 Khan faced Scott Lawton in his first defence of the Commonwealth lightweight title. Khan fought a mature and clinical fight, boxing with single punches for the majority of the first three rounds. Khan increased the pressure at the end of the third, and secured a TKO victory in the fourth. The referee stepped in when Lawton failed to fight back.
The most significant win of Khan's career so far came when he celebrated his 21st birthday by successfully defending his Commonwealth lightweight title against Graham Earl on 8 December 2007. Earl, rated the number one British lightweight and a former world title challenger, was considered Khan's toughest test by some way and a tough fight was expected; especially due to some ill-feeling between the pair in the run-up to the fight. However, it took Khan just 72 seconds to have the fight referee declare Earl in no fit state to continue. Khan later claimed that he rated this victory as the best of his career.
2008
On 2 February, Khan was scheduled to fight Martin Kristjansen but illness forced the Dane to withdraw and instead Khan beat Australian Gairy St Clair in a contest for the Commonwealth lightweight title at the ExCel Arena in London. This was his first fight to last all 12 rounds and was won via a unanimous 120-108 scoring from all three ringside judges.
On 5 April, Khan beat Kristjansen in the 7th round of a WBO world lightweight title eliminator. Before the contest, the fighters had been ranked 3rd and 4th respectively by the WBO. After Khan's victory, he is now ranked 2nd, behind only Joel Casamayor.
Following the fight, Khan split from his trainer Oliver Harrison, the trainer for all of his previous 17 professional contests. The breakup has been blamed on Harrison's concerns that Khan's public engagements were interfering with his fight preparations.[9] An official spokesperson for Team Khan told reporters there was nothing personal between Khan and Harrison.[10] Dean Powell, who has trained former world champions Duke McKenzie and Lloyd Honeyghan, will work with Khan until a decision on a permanent trainer is made, with Khan possibly looking to America. In the same month, Khan had a training session in Las Vegas with Roger Mayweather, trainer and uncle of Floyd Mayweather.[11]
Khan fought on 21 June at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Irishman Michael Gomez. Gomez, a super featherweight who is reaching the end of his career and had lost the last three of his six fights, was described as a "backward step" in Khan's quest for a world title.[12] Khan stated "I think I'm above this domestic level now" and made it clear that he expected a fast and explosive finish to the fight. However, after the fight, Khan said he felt he had moved up a level by "fighting world class fighters like Gomez".[13] Khan received criticism for being knocked down in the second round, but proved his resilience by coming back stronger after this. Former boxing champion Barry McGuigan seemed unimpressed after the fight and said Khan needed at least two more fights before he should consider a world title bout. Many journalists echoed McGuigan's opinion of Khan's defensive vulnerability.
On 6 September 2008, Khan lost to Breidis Prescott in 54 seconds at the M.E.N. Arena on his Sky Box Office debut,[14] handing him his first defeat as a professional boxer. Khan was knocked down within 25 seconds and struggled to make the count, Prescott downed him again within 41 seconds, moments later to win by knockout.
Trainers
- Oliver Harrison- 2004-2008[15]
- Jorge Rubio- 2008-2008[16]
- Freddie Roach- 2008- Present[17]
Outside boxing
In July 2006 he became involved in the No Messin' campaign which promotes child safety around British railways.[18] The same year he performed an Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca.[19]
Charitable work
After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Khan went to Pakistan and handed out food parcels to children in a camp.[20] He has also raised more than £6,000 for a firefighter who was badly burned while trying to save a family from an arson attack in Bolton.[21][22]
He has spent £1million of his own cash on opening the Gloves Community Centre and boxing gym in Bolton to get youths off the streets.[23][24]
Media
- Amir was involved in a TV programme for Channel 4, Amir Khan's Angry Young Men, which consisted of three 50-minute episodes. The programme centred around troubled angry men and aimed to use the disciplines of boxing, coupled with faith and family values, to help re-focus their lives and steer them away from trouble in the future. It was screened in August/September 2007.
- He has also been on a show called Proud Parents with his parents.
- Amir was also on Beat the Star with Jennie Bond.
Sports
As well as boxing, Khan also enjoys playing sports such as football, basketball and cricket.[25]
Motoring offences
On 23 October 2007, Khan was convicted of careless driving at Bolton Crown Court and given a six month driving ban and a £1000 fine. The conviction related to an incident that occurred on 2 March 2006 in the centre of Bolton, when Khan's car hit and broke the leg of a pedestrian who was running on a pelican crossing trying to avoid cars. Immediately prior to the accident Khan had swerved to avoid a line of stopped cars and inadvertently went through a traffic light that had just turned red. He was cleared of dangerous driving[26] and the pedestrian received an interim payment of £40,000.[27] Khan was also summoned to appear in court in Rochdale on 26 October 2007, accused of travelling in excess of 140 mph on the M62 motorway on 31 December 2006. He failed to appear and the case was adjourned to 2 November 2007, with the District Judge warning that he would issue an arrest warrant if the accused did not appear by then. He was also charged with not producing his driving licence and insurance certificate.[28] On 7 January 2008 Khan was fined £1000 and banned for 42 days for the speeding offence.[29]
Record
Amateur boxing
- 2003 – Won a gold medal at the AAU Junior Olympics.
- 2004 – Won a gold medal at the European Student Championships and the World Junior Championships.
- 2004 – Won the Strandja Cup to qualify for the Olympics in Athens
- 2004 – Won a silver medal at the Olympics, beating Marios Kaperonis, Dimitar Stilianov, Jong Sub Baik and Serik Yeleuov. He lost to Mario Kindelan in the final.
- 2005 – Beat Craig Watson on points in the ABA Championships.
- 2005 – Won the last match of his amateur career beating Mario Kindelan 19-13 at the Reebok Stadium.
Professional
References
- ^ "findmypast.com - Amir Khan". findmypast.com. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ Boxing record for Amir Khan from BoxRec (registration required)
- ^ http://www.boxrec.com/ratings.php?sex=m&division=Lightweight&pageID=4
- ^ "'Mum's curries keep us at home'". The Guardian. 2006-07-30. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Men's Health December 2006 issue, p128
- ^ "Amir Khan's journey to fame". Gulf News. 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Amir's road to Athens". BBC Sport. 2004-08-28. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Khan tested on way to first title". BBC Sport. 2006-12-10. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Khan rings in the new with change of trainer". The Guardian. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Amir Khan splits with trainer Oliver Harrison". The Telegraph. 2008-04-29. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Khan rings in the new with change of trainer". The Guardian. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Shopworn Gomez looks made to order for Khan". British Boxing. 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Khan eyes Filipino great Pacquiao". BBC News. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Khan knocked out in first round". BBC Sport. 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.frankwarren.tv/drill/News/Articles/2008/09/22/khan-splits-with-rubio.html
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7627111.stm
- ^ http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news/st...OXING_Khan.html
- ^ "'No Messin' Live! 2006' - railway safety campaign". Network Rail. 2006-07-06. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Bolton wanderer on pilgrimage from Mecca to Muhammad". The Times. 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "A gift for Pakistan". The Bolton News. 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Amir to help injured firefighter". This Is Lancashire. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "Firefighter hero back on his feet". The Asian News. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "Amir Khan Helps mend Broken Britain". The Sun. 2008-03-01. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "Socially conscious Khan giving back to local youth in community". ESPN. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "Amir Khan - A True Talent". Smaart Talent. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Khan cleared of dangerous driving". Manchester Evening News. 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Boxer Amir Khan blamed for drink death of 'broken man' steel worker he ran down in sports car". Daily Mail. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Judge gives Khan arrest warning". BBC News. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Amir Khan driving ban". The Mirror. 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
External links
