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*2005 – Won the last match of his amateur career beating Mario Kindelan 19–13 at the [[Reebok Stadium]].
*2005 – Won the last match of his amateur career beating Mario Kindelan 19–13 at the [[Reebok Stadium]].


==Professional boxing record==
===Professional boxing record===


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Revision as of 23:21, 14 May 2011

Amir Khan
Born
Amir Iqbal Khan

(1986-12-08) 8 December 1986 (age 37)
Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Other namesKing Khan
Statistics
Weight(s)Light Welterweight
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights26
Wins25
Wins by KO17
Losses1
Draws0
No contests0
Olympic medal record
Men's boxing
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Lightweight

Amir Iqbal Khan (Punjabi, Template:Lang-ur, Āmīr Iqbāl Khān; born 8 December 1986 in Bolton, Greater Manchester[1]) is a British boxer of Pakistani descent, and currently the WBA World super lightweight champion. Khan won the belt at the age of 22, making him Britain's third-youngest world champion after Naseem Hamed and Herbie Hide.

He was previously in the lightweight division, where he held the Commonwealth, WBO Inter-Continental and WBA International titles. He also became the youngest British Olympic boxing medallist when he won silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics at the age of 17. He is commonly known by the nickname "King Khan".[2][3]

Personal life

Khan was born and raised in Bolton, England. His family originated from Matore, Kahuta in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.[4]

As well as speaking English, Khan also speaks Punjabi and Urdu. He was educated at Smithills School in Bolton,[5] and Bolton Community College. Khan has two sisters and one brother, Haroon Khan, who is an amateur boxer.[6] His first cousin is the English cricketer Sajid Mahmood. Khan is a practicing Muslim.[7] As well as boxing, Khan enjoys playing sports such as football, basketball and cricket.[8] He is an avid supporter of his local football club, Bolton Wanderers, and uses the club's training facilities.

Amateur career

Khan began to box 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.[9] 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. One of his notable early amateur fights was against Victor Ortíz, whom he defeated in a second round stoppage.[10]

Khan qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics by finishing in first place at the 1st AIBA European 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He was Britain's sole representative in boxing at the Athens Games, 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 last amateur fight.

Professional career

Lightweight (2008–2009)

Khan in 2009.

On 2 February 2008, Khan was scheduled to fight Martin Kristjansen, but illness forced the Dane to withdraw and instead Khan beat Australian Gary 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 2008, Khan beat Kristjansen in the seventh round of a WBO world lightweight title eliminator. Before the contest, the fighters had been ranked third and fourth respectively by the WBO. After Khan's victory, he was ranked second, 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 was blamed on Harrison's concerns that Khan's public engagements were interfering with his fight preparations.[11] Khan's spokesman told reporters there was "nothing personal" between Khan and Harrison.[12] Dean Powell, who has trained former world champions Duke McKenzie and Lloyd Honeyghan, worked with Khan until a decision on a permanent trainer was made. In the same month, Khan had a training session in Las Vegas with Roger Mayweather, trainer and uncle of Floyd Mayweather, Jr..[11]

Khan fought on 21 June 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Irishman Michael Gomez. Gomez, a super featherweight champion who was reaching the end of his career and had lost the last one of his six fights, was described as a "backward step" in Khan's quest for a world title.[13] Khan stated "I think I'm above this level now" and made it clear that he expected a fast and explosive finish to the fight knocking down Gomez two times in the fight and a great finish. However, after the fight, Khan said he felt he had moved up a level by "fighting a good fighters like Gomez".[14] 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[who?] echoed McGuigan's opinion of Khan's needs to work on his defence.

A month after the Gomez fight, it was announced that Jorge Rubio would become Khan's new trainer. Rubio was chosen because Khan thought that he had very good chemistry with the Cuban trainer. Khan said, "Rubio was showing me all these new training techniques, and I felt so comfortable because it suited my style. I knew I had the hand speed and the footwork to do it and I knew it was going to make me a much better fighter". Many boxing experts thought that Rubio needed to concentrate on improving Khan's defence and Khan's father agreed that he was showing great defensive skills during his training.

In early August, the lightweight Breidis Prescott was chosen by Rubio as Khan's next opponent. Rubio had trained a fighter who had narrowly lost to Prescott before and thought that Khan would be able to handle the bigger Prescott, who had a prolific knock-out record of 17 KOs in 19 contests. On 6 September 2008, Khan was a huge favourite and was hoping to win a world title by the end of the year. Prescott came out fast in the fight and landed some good shots; Khan was stumbled with a left hook early on before Prescott landed a strong overhand right, flooring his opponent. He managed to get to his feet but following a further four punch barrage, Khan was knocked out and couldn't beat the count. It was officially over in 54 seconds. The fight was at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Khans Sky Box Office debut.[15]

Following his defeat to Prescott, Frank Warren sacked Khan's trainer Jorge Rubio and replaced him with Freddie Roach. Khan began training with Roach in the United States, where he sparred with then WBC World lightweight champion and p4p champion Manny Pacquiao, who is also being trained by Roach. On 6 December 2008, Khan recorded a comeback win against Oisin Fagan in a second-round stoppage. With victory, Khan won the vacant WBA International lightweight title. Khan knocked Fagan down twice in the first round and Fagan's corner threw in the towel in the second, after being knocked down again.

Light welterweight (2009–present)

Khan vs. Kotelnik

On 18 July 2009, Khan moved up to the light welterweight to fight Andreas Kotelnik at the MEN Arena in Manchester for the WBA World light welterweight title. Khan won by a unanimous decision, 120–108, 118–111, 118–111, and became the third-youngest Briton to win a world title, at the age of 22.[16]

Khan vs. Salita

On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA World light welterweight title against undefeated Ukrainian American boxer Dmitry Salita, the mandatory challenger, on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.[17] Due to Khan being a practising Muslim and Salita being an Orthodox Jew, the fight was hyped as a religious clash by the media, referring to it as a "battle of faiths" or "holy war", though Khan and Salita have both denied such claims.[18][19] On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated mandatory challenger Salita in 76 seconds, winning by technical knockout in the first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time after just 10 seconds into the fight.[20] It was the first ever loss of Salita's career.[21]

On 17 January 2010, Khan announced he had split with British promoter Frank Warren and signed a deal with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, with Khan's fights moving back to ITV.[22]

Khan vs. Malignaggi

Khan (left) and Malignaggi at the press conference on March 17, 2010.

On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and former light welterweight world champion Paulie Malignaggi would hold a press conference in London to announce their world title bout set for 15 May at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. This was Khan's first bout in the United States of America. The fight was for the WBA light welterweight title, which Khan won in the 11th round.[23] "He (Khan) is stronger, bigger and faster. He was very busy, I couldn't keep up with him" stated Malignaggi in his post-fight interview. Immediately after the fight, Khan stated he wanted to fight Marcos Maidana next, and that he would not be leaving the light welterweight division until he had unified the various belts, suggesting that the way to do this would be for him to fight Maidana, and then go on to face the winner of a Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley match.[24]

Khan vs. Maidana

Main article: Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana

Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against WBA interim champion and mandatory challenger, Marcos Maidana on December 11, 2010, in Las Vegas.[25] Khan dominated the fight early and knocked down Maidana in the first round with multiple body shots. He eventually won a unanimous decision despite a worrying 10th-round wobble when Maidana hurt Khan. Maidana responded positively to the fight by saying, "It was a hell of a fight. He (Amir) is a great, skillful and fast boxer. And he proved that he can take a punch. He is a great champion".[26] The fight was awarded the Boxing Writers Association of America Award for Fight of the Year.[27]

Khan vs. McCloskey

Main article: Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey

Khan took on Paul McCloskey in his next fight. The 31-year-old Irishman was unbeaten in 22 fights and is ranked world number 10. Khan said: “I am delighted that this fight has finally been put together following some tough negotiations. This is a matchup the British public want to see and will be a fantastic fight between two of the best light-welterweights in the country.” [28]

Khan won a sixth-round technical decision after Paul McCloskey was cut by an accidental head-butt and could not go on in the estimation of the ring doctor.[29] The heads of Khan and McCloskey collided about two minutes into the sixth round, causing a bad cut on the inside of the Irishman’s left eyebrow. Another tactical few rounds followed, with Khan the main aggressor. In the decisive sixth, a five-punch combination from Khan staggered McCloskey and moments later the pair went toe-to-toe before McCloskey wheeled away and noticed blood coming from around his left eye.[30]

Khan had some trouble with an awkward and resilient southpaw, who was difficult to hit cleanly, but was both too quick and too busy for McCloskey, winning all six rounds on all three cards.[31]

Outside boxing

Charitable and community work

  • In July 2006 Khan became involved in the No Messin' campaign, which promotes child safety around British railways.[34]
  • In 2008, he raised more than £6,000 for a firefighter who was badly burned while trying to save a family from an arson attack in Bolton.[35][36] Khan along with a few other famous faces took part in a charity football match at Valley Parade in Bradford, the proceeds of the match went to the family of the murdered police officer Sharon Beshenivsky.
  • He has spent £1 million of his own money on opening the Gloves Community Centre and boxing gym in Bolton to get youths off the streets.[37][38]
  • He has shown support for the White Ribbon Campaign, which encourages men to play a role in ending violence against women. (WRC)

Media

  • Khan 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.

Motoring offences and incidents

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 around a line of stopped cars and went through a traffic light that had just turned red. He was cleared of dangerous driving[39] and the pedestrian received an interim payment of £40,000.[40] 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.[41] On 7 January 2008 Khan was fined £1000 and banned for 42 days for the speeding offence.[42]

On 12 July 2009, Khan was once again involved in a motoring incident, this time a collision with a young cyclist. However, no action will be taken against Khan after police concluded that he was not to blame for the incident in Moor Lane following interviews with a number of witnesses.[43]

Titles

Trainers

Record

Amateur

Professional boxing record

25 Wins (17 knockouts), 1 Defeat, 0 Draws[47]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Win 25–1 Republic of Ireland Paul McCloskey TD 6 (12) 16 April 2011 England M.E.N. Arena, Manchester Retained WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win 24–1 Argentina Marcos Maidana UD 12 11 December 2010 United States Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win 23–1 United States Paulie Malignaggi TKO 11 (12), 1:25 15 May 2010 United States Madison Square Garden, New York, New York Retained WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win 22–1 United States Dmitry Salita TKO 1 (12), 1:16 5 December 2009 England Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear Retained WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win 21–1 Ukraine Andreas Kotelnik UD 12 18 July 2009 England M.E.N. Arena, Manchester Won WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win 20–1 Mexico Marco Antonio Barrera TD 5 (12), 2:36 14 March 2009 England M.E.N. Arena, Manchester Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title.
Win 19–1 Republic of Ireland Oisin Fagan TKO 2 (12), 1:37 6 December 2008 England ExCeL Arena, Docklands, London Won vacant WBA International Lightweight title.
Loss 18–1 Colombia Breidis Prescott KO 1 (12), 0:54 6 September 2008 England M.E.N. Arena, Manchester Lost WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title.
Win 18–0 Republic of Ireland Michael Gomez TKO 5 (12), 2:33 21 June 2008 England National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, West Midlands Retained WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title.
Win 17–0 Denmark Martin Kristjansen TKO 7 (12), 2:53 5 April 2008 England Bolton Arena, Bolton, Greater Manchester Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title.
Win 16–0 Australia Gairy St. Clair UD 12 2 February 2008 England ExCeL Arena, Docklands, London Retained Commonwealth Lightweight title.
Win 15–0 England Graham Earl TKO 1 (12), 1:12 8 December 2007 England Bolton Arena, Bolton, Greater Manchester Retained Commonwealth Lightweight title.
Win 14–0 England Scott Lawton TKO 4 (12), 0:32 6 October 2007 England Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire Retained Commonwealth Lightweight title.
Win 13–0 Scotland Willie Limond RTD 8 (12), 3:00 14 July 2007 England O2 Arena, Greenwich, London Won Commonwealth Lightweight title.
Win 12–0 England Steffy Bull TKO 3 (8), 1:45 7 April 2007 Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Win 11–0 France Mohammed Medjadi TKO 1 (8), 0:55 17 February 2007 England Wembley Arena, Wembley, London
Win 10–0 France Rachid Drilzane UD 10 9 December 2006 England ExCeL Arena, Docklands, London Won IBF Inter-Continental Light-Welterweight title.
Win 9–0 England Ryan Barrett TKO 1 (6), 1:51 2 September 2006 England Bolton Arena, Bolton, Greater Manchester
Win 8–0 Scotland Colin Bain TKO 2 (6), 2:20 8 July 2006 Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Win 7–0 Hungary Laszlo Komjathi UD 6 20 May 2006 United Kingdom King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win 6–0 England Jackson Williams TKO 3 (6), 2:16 25 February 2006 England ExCeL Arena, Docklands, London
Win 5–0 Belarus Vitali Martynov TKO 1 (6), 1:15 28 January 2006 England Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Win 4–0 England Daniel Thorpe TKO 2 (4), 2:57 10 December 2005 England ExCeL Arena, Docklands, London
Win 3–0 England Steve Gethin TKO 3 (4), 0:49 5 November 2005 Scotland Braehead Arena, Glasgow
Win 2–0 England Baz Carey UD 4 10 September 2005 Wales Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
Win 1–0 England David Bailey TKO 1 (4), 1:49 16 July 2005 England Bolton Arena, Bolton, Greater Manchester Khan's professional debut.

See also

References

  1. ^ "findmypast.com – Amir Khan". findmypast.com. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  2. ^ Pat Sheehan (2009-12-10). "You Khan-not be serious, Amir". The Sun. London. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  3. ^ "Oliver – No rush for King Khan". Sky Sports. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  4. ^ "Amir Khan's journey to fame", gulfnews.com, April 11, 2008
  5. ^ Manchester Sports & Olympic Champions
  6. ^ Price, Oliver (2006-07-30). "'Mum's curries keep us at home'". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  7. ^ Pugmire, Lance (10 December 2010). Los Angeles Times http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/10/sports/la-sp-1211-amir-khan-20101211. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ "Amir Khan – A True Talent". Smaart Talent. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  9. ^ Dirs, Ben (2004-08-28). "Amir's road to Athens". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  10. ^ Amir Khan On Victor Ortíz on YouTube
  11. ^ a b Rawling, John (2008-05-02). "Khan rings in the new with change of trainer". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  12. ^ Davies, Gareth A (2008-04-29). "Amir Khan splits with trainer Oliver Harrison". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  13. ^ "Shopworn Gomez looks made to order for Khan". British Boxing. 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  14. ^ "Khan eyes Filipino great Pacquiao". BBC News. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  15. ^ "Khan knocked out in first round". BBC Sport. 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  16. ^ Hobbs, Tim (20 July 2009). "Khan king of the world". Sky Sports.
  17. ^ "Khan to face Salita on 5 December "
  18. ^ "Khan destroys Salita in battle of faiths". CNN International. December 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  19. ^ Jeff Powell (4 December 2009). "Amir Khan: Bigots only drive me on to new glory". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  20. ^ "KHAN v SALITA ROUND-BY-ROUND". sportinglife.com. 2009-12-05.
  21. ^ Ben Dirs (2009-12-05). "Amir Khan knocks out Dmitriy Salita in first round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  22. ^ "Amir Khan signs deal with Golden Boy promotions". BBC Sport. 17 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  23. ^ "Crowd will love to see Khan suffer, warns Malignaggi". BBC News. 16 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  24. ^ "Amir Khan aiming to unify light-welterweight division". BBC Sport. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  25. ^ "Amir Khan set to defend his WBA light-welterweight title against Marcos Maidana in London or Liverpool". Daily Mail. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Boxing – Team Maidana Statement. Fightnews.com (2010-12-13). Retrieved on 2011-04-15.
  27. ^ Amir scoops American honour, Sky Sports
  28. ^ Latest News: McCloskey deal signed! Amir Khan Official Blog. Amirkhanworld.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-15.
  29. ^ Rosenthal, Michael (2011-04-16). "Khan wins sixth-round technical decision after McCloskey is cut". RingTV. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  30. ^ "Amir Khan keeps WBA title". Espn. 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  31. ^ Sukachev, Alexey (2011-04-16). "Amir Khan Gets Technical Nod Over Paul Mccloskey Six". BoxingScene. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  32. ^ "On The Ropes Episode #54: Guests Amir Khan & Tavoris Cloud". Blogtalkradio. 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
  33. ^ "A gift for Pakistan". The Bolton News. 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  34. ^ "'No Messin' Live! 2006' – railway safety campaign". Network Rail. 2006-07-06. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  35. ^ "Amir to help injured firefighter". This Is Lancashire. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  36. ^ "Firefighter hero back on his feet". The Asian News. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  37. ^ Francis, Nick (2008-03-01). "Amir Khan Helps mend Broken Britain". London: The Sun. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  38. ^ "Socially conscious Khan giving back to local youth in community". ESPN. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  39. ^ "Khan cleared of dangerous driving". Manchester Evening News. 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  40. ^ "Boxer Amir Khan blamed for drink death of 'broken man' steel worker he ran down in sports car". London: Daily Mail. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  41. ^ "Judge gives Khan arrest warning". BBC News. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  42. ^ "Amir Khan driving ban". The Mirror. 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  43. ^ "Khan cleared by police". Sky Sports. 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  44. ^ [1][dead link]
  45. ^ "Trainer Rubio is ditched by Khan". BBC News. 20 September 2008.
  46. ^ http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news/st...OXING_Khan.html
  47. ^ Amir Khan – Boxer. Boxrec.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-15.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amir Khan.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Amir Khan (boxer).
Preceded by Commonwealth Lightweight Champion
14 July 2007 – 2009 		Vacant
Title next held by
Lee McAllister
Preceded by WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Champion
5 April 2008 – 6 September 2008 		Succeeded by
New title WBA International Lightweight Champion
6 December 2008 – 18 July 2009 		Vacant
Title next held by
Javier Castro
Vacant
Title last held by
Breidis Prescott 		WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Champion
14 March 2009 – 18 July 2009 		Vacant
Title next held by
Kevin Mitchell
Preceded by WBA Super Lightweight Champion
18 July 2009 – present 		Incumbent

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