Amir Khan (boxer)

Amir Khan
Born	Amir Khan (1986-12-08) December 8, 1986 Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
Nationality	United Kingdom
Statistics
Weight(s)	Lightweight / Light-welterweight
Height	5ft 10 in (180cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	17
Wins	17
Wins by KO	13
Losses	0
Draws	0
No contests	0

Olympic medal record
Men's boxing
	2004 Athens	Lightweight

Amir Khan (born December 8, 1986) is a British Pakistani boxer from Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. He is the current Commonwealth lightweight champion and the current WBO Inter-Continental lightweight champion, and is ranked #2 by the WBO and #4 by the WBC. He is also ranked # 7 by the Ring Magazine and # 6 by Boxrec. Khan has won all his professional fights to date.

Background

Khan was born and raised in Bolton, England and is an avid supporter of his local football club, Bolton Wanderers, where he uses the club's training facilities at the Reebok Stadium.

Khan belongs to the Janjua Rajput clan of Maira Matore in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, which has a long and well documented history of warrior kings and a strong martial reputation.

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. He was a hyperactive child and "a born fighter", according to his father, who encouraged him to take up boxing.

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.

Khan's early life and career has been documented in a book titled Amir Khan: a Boy from Bolton (ISBN 0747587604; published July 2007) and he has also released a DVD of his first nine fights.

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. 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 December 9, 2006, winning a 10 round decision. Khan experienced the first knockdown of his career; he got his foot caught in the rope and touched down with his glove, giving the referee no choice but to award his opponent the knock-down. Drilzane had never scored a knockout in his 13 fight career. Khan did not defend this belt — instead he returned to the Lightweight division for future fights.

Khan announced his intention to be a World Champion by the time he was 21, by the end of 2007 — an ambition that was not to be fulfilled. His comments prompted reactions from boxing fans directed towards his promoter to increase the level of his opposition.

2007

On April 7, 2007, Khan beat Steffy Bull in a three round technical knockout in Cardiff.

On July 14, 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 nose and damaged right eye.

On October 6, 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 December 8, 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. The speed with which Amir dispatched his man came as a big surprise to most observers, Earl looking barely in the same ring as the Commonwealth champion. Khan later claimed that he rated this victory as the best of his career.

2008

On February 2, 2008, 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 April 5th 2008, Khan beat Kristjansen in the 7th round of a WBO World Lightweight title eliminator. Despite being warned for hitting Kristjansen after he had dropped to the floor towards the end of the seventh, a further onslaught by the British lightweight forced the referee to stop the fight as the Dane was unable to defend himself. 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.

Khan is set for a bout on June 21 2008 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Irishman Michael Gomez. The fight against Gomez, a super featherweight who is reaching the end of his career and has lost the last three of his six fights, has been described as a "backward step" in Khan's quest for a world title. Khan himself has stated "I think I'm above this domestic level now" and expects a fast and explosive finish to the fight.

In April 2008 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. An official spokesperson for Team Khan told reporters there was nothing personal between Khan and Harrison. Dean Powell, who has trained former world champions Duke McKenzie and Lloyd Honeyghan, will work with Khan until his next fight at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on June 21. A decision on a permanent trainer will be taken afterwards, with Khan possibly looking to America. Khan has recently (April 2008) had a training session in Las Vegas with Roger Mayweather, trainer and uncle of Floyd Mayweather.

Record

Olympic medal record
Representing United Kingdom
Boxing
	2004 Athens	Lightweight

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.

Motoring offences

On October 23, 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 March 2, 2006 in the centre of Bolton when Khan hit a pedestrian on a pelican crossing whilst overtaking a line of cars and running through a red traffic light. Khan was estimated to be traveling at 47 mph in a 30 mph limit area and was in the incorrect lane of traffic. The pedestrian, Geoffrey Hatton, suffered a broken leg and lost his job due to the seriousness of the injury . Khan had originally been charged with the more serious offence of dangerous driving. Geoffrey Hatton suffered from depression after the accident and turned to drink. He died in April 2008; his family said that the accident had "taken its toll".

Khan was also summoned to appear in court in Rochdale on October 26, 2007, accused of travelling in excess of 140 mph on the M62 motorway on December 31, 2006. He did not appear and the case was adjourned to November 2, 2007, with the District Judge stating that he would issue an arrest warrant if the accused did not appear then. He was also charged with not producing his driving licence and insurance certificate after the incident. On 7th January 2008 Khan was fined £1000 and banned for 42 days for the speeding offence.

Activities outside boxing

• After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake he went to Pakistan to help the victims of the quake.

• In July 2006 he became involved in the No Messin' campaign which promotes child safety around British railways. The same year he performed an Umrah, a 14-day pilgrimage to Mecca.

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 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.

• From July 2008, Irish broadcaster Setanta Sports will have exclusive UK rights to Khan's fights, following a 2 and a half year agreement with Frank Warren's Sports Network.

Sports

• He enjoys playing sports such as football and cricket.

External links

• Amir Khan's official website
• Boxing record for Amir Khan from BoxRec (registration required)
• Amir Khan's official fansite
• Amir Khan Boxing Equipment from RBK
• Amir Khan at IMDb