Amir Khan (boxer): Difference between revisions
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|birth_date={{birth date and age|df=yes|1986|12|8}} |
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|birth_place=[[Bolton]], [[Greater Manchester]], [[England]] |
|birth_place=[[Bolton]], [[Greater Manchester]], [[England]] |
Revision as of 18:18, 19 December 2010
Amir Khan | |
---|---|
Born | Amir Iqbal Khan 8 December 1986 |
Nationality | British |
Other names | King Khan The Pride Of Bolton Lightning Khan |
Statistics | |
Weight(s) | 139.5 lb (63.3 kg; 9.96 st) |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
Stance | Regular |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 25 |
Wins | 24 |
Wins by KO | 17 |
Losses | 1 |
Draws | 0 |
No contests | 0 |
Olympic medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men's boxing | ||
2004 Athens | Lightweight |
Amir Iqbal Khan (Urdu: امیر اقبال خان) (born 8 December 1986 in Bolton, Greater Manchester[1]) is a British Pakistani boxer, and currently the WBA World light welterweight 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, a British Pakistani, was born and raised in Bolton, England. His family originate from Matore,Kahuta in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.[4]
As well as speaking English, Khan also speaks Urdu and Pothohari/Punjabi. 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. As well as boxing, Khan enjoys playing sports such as football, basketball and cricket.[7] He is an avid supporter of his local football club, Bolton Wanderers, and uses the club's training facilities.
Khan is a practicing Muslim.[8]
Amateur career
Khan began to box competitively at the age of 11, with early honours including three English school title, 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 (2005–2007)
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 English boxing promoter, Frank Warren. It is speculated by some that this decision was influenced by a row with the English Amateur Boxing Association over the ticketing allocation for his family and friends at the English ABA Finals. Khan won his professional debut against David Bailey via first round technical knockout, on 16 July 2005, at the Bolton Arena in Bolton.
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 in his 10th fight. Khan inexperience in this fight showed a lot of heart for stepping up at a young age.[11] Drilzane had only lost one fight in his 13 fight career. Khan subsequently returned to the lightweight division for future fights. On 7 April 2007, Khan defeated Steffy Bull via third round technical knockout in Cardiff.
On 14 July 2007, Khan faced Willie Limond for the Commonwealth lightweight title. During the fight Khan was knocked down in the sixth round and appeared to be hurt. but however, after another barrage of right hands, Khan weathered the storm and in the seventh round knocked down Limond. Limond's corner threw in the towel at the end of round eight after khan broke Limond's jaw and nose in round eight to win the commonwealth lightweight title.
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 hard punches for the majority of the first three rounds. Khan increased the pressure at the end of the third, and secured two knockdowns, TKO victory in the fourth. The referee stepped in when Lawton failed to fight back.
The most significant win of Khan's career up until that time 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 and Earl did knock down Katsidis in his last fight but. However, it took Khan just 72 seconds and two knockdown to have the fight referee declare Earl in no fit state to continue. After the fight, Khan claimed that he rated this victory as the best of his career.[citation needed]
Lightweight (2008–2009)
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.[12] Khan's spokesman told reporters there was "nothing personal" between Khan and Harrison.[13] 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..[12]
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.[14] 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".[15] 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 he is just too young. 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. The fight was at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Khans Sky Box Office debut.[16]
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.
Khan vs. Barrera
In early 2009, it was announced that Khan would fight former seven-time and three-weight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera on 14 March, at the Manchester Evening News Arena.[17] Frank Warren promoted Khan's fight against the veteran Barrera, perhaps Khan's highest-profile opponent to date. Barrera was ranked #1 and Khan #5 in the WBO world lightweight rankings. Previous IBF and WBO world lightweight title holder Nate Campbell was stripped of the belts after moving up to the light welterweight division and Khan's promoter Frank Warren and Barrera's promoter Don King lobbied the WBO to elevate the Khan-Barrera fight to a world lightweight title eliminator.[18] However, the world-title status was instead given to the fight between Juan Manuel Márquez and Juan Diaz, ranked #2 and #3 respectively by the WBO.[19]
On 14 March 2009, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, Khan defeated Barrera, by a technical decision. The fight was stopped towards the end of the fifth round due to Barrera suffering a cut in the first round, which resulted from a clash of heads. With Barrera deemed in no position to fight on by the ringside doctor, the fight then went to the scorecards where Khan was ahead on all three (50–44, 50–45, 50–45). With victory, Khan defended his WBA International lightweight title and also won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title.
Frank Warren was sufficiently impressed with Khan's performance that he vowed to land a world title fight for him before the end of the year.
"There was a lot on his shoulders, but I always felt he could rise to the big occasion. I'd like to see him get a belt round his waist by the end of this year."[20]
Khan also commented on the fight, saying:
"I felt so completely easy, catching him with jabs. I felt like I was on a better level than him. The jabbing and patience – I felt so strong. You could see the difference. I had to take some shots in that match. I made some mistakes in the past and I'm not going to make them again."[20]
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.[21]
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.[22] 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.[23][24] 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.[25] It was the first ever loss of Salita's career.[26]
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.[27]
Khan vs. Malignaggi
On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and former light welterweight world champion Paulie Malignaggi will 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.[28] 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.[29]
Khan vs. Maidana
Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against WBA Interim Champion and mandatory challenger, Marcos Maidana on 11 December 2010 in Las Vegas.[30] Khan dominated the fight early on and knocked down Maidana in the 1st round with multiple body shots. He eventually won out a narrow points victory with a unanimous decision despite a worrying 10th round wobble when Maidana sucessfully caught Khan. Madaina responded positively to the fight stating "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".[31]
Outside boxing
Charitable and community work
- After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Khan assisted in helping raise £1 million for victims of the disaster.[32] After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Khan went to Pakistan and handed out food parcels to children in a camp.[33]
- In July 2006 Khan became involved in the No Messin' campaign, which promotes child safety around British railways.[34] The same year he performed an Umrah (a minor pilgrimage to Mecca).[35]
- 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.[36][37] 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.[38][39]
- 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.
- He has also been on a show called Proud Parents with his parents.
- In April 2008, Khan appeared on TV game show Beat the Star, and in January 2009 he guested on a celebrity version of ITV1's Family Fortunes, pitted against Jennie Bond.
- Amir appeared at the MOBO Awards 2009 where he presented the award for Best Video.
- Amir has also appeared in Aik Din Geo Ke Saath, a show broadcast by the Pakistani television channel, Geo.
- In April 2010, Khan featured as one of the guest stars (alongside comedian Jack Whitehall) in Sky One's sports-themed topical comedy show, A League of Their Own.
- Recently, Amir also shot a music video for his entrance song, alongside Mr. Capone-E.
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[40] and the pedestrian received an interim payment of £40,000.[41] 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.[42] On 7 January 2008 Khan was fined £1000 and banned for 42 days for the speeding offence.[43]
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.[44].
Titles
- Current WBA World Light-Welterweight Champion
- Former Commonwealth Lightweight Champion
- Former WBA International Lightweight Champion
- Former WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Champion [2x]
- Former IBF Inter-Continental Light-Welterweight Champion
Trainers
- Oliver Harrison (July 2005 – April 2008)[45]
- Jorge Rubio (July 2008 – September 2008)[46]
- Freddie Roach (October 2008 – present)[47]
Record
Amateur
- 2003 – Won a gold medal at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
- 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 an amateur match against Victor Ortíz, who was stopped in the second round.
- 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 boxing record
See also
References
- ^ "findmypast.com - Amir Khan". findmypast.com. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ Pat Sheehan (2009-12-10). "You Khan-not be serious, Amir". The Sun. London. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
- ^ "Oliver - No rush for King Khan". Sky Sports. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
- ^ "Amir Khan's journey to fame", gulfnews.com, April 11, 2008
- ^ Manchester Sports & Olympic Champions
- ^ Price, Oliver (2006-07-30). "'Mum's curries keep us at home'". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Amir Khan - A True Talent". Smaart Talent. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/10/sports/la-sp-1211-amir-khan-20101211
- ^ Dirs, Ben (2004-08-28). "Amir's road to Athens". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Amir Khan On Victor Ortíz on YouTube
- ^ "Khan tested on way to first title". BBC Sport. 2006-12-10. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ a b Rawling, John (2008-05-02). "Khan rings in the new with change of trainer". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Davies, Gareth A (2008-04-29). "Amir Khan splits with trainer Oliver Harrison". London: The Telegraph. 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.
- ^ "Khan to face ring legend Barrera". Sky Sports News. 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ Ron Lewis (16 February 2009). "Amir Khan in line to make the most of new world order". The Times. London. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ Lewis, Ron (20 February 2009). "Khan made to wait". The Times. London. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ a b Hassan, Nabil (15 March 2009). "Bloodied Barrera beaten by Khan". BBC Sport.
- ^ Hobbs, Tim (20 July 2009). "Khan king of the world". Sky Sports.
- ^ "Khan to face Salita on 5 December "
- ^ "Khan destroys Salita in battle of faiths". CNN International. December 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- ^ Jeff Powell (4 December 2009). "Amir Khan: Bigots only drive me on to new glory". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- ^ "KHAN v SALITA ROUND-BY-ROUND". sportinglife.com. 2009-12-05.
- ^ Ben Dirs (2009-12-05). "Amir Khan knocks out Dmitriy Salita in first round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
- ^ "Amir Khan signs deal with Golden Boy promotions". BBC Sport. 17 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
- ^ "Crowd will love to see Khan suffer, warns Malignaggi". BBC News. 16 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
- ^ "Amir Khan aiming to unify light-welterweight division". BBC Sport. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
- ^ "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}}
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(help) - ^ http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/team-maidana-statement-70198
- ^ "On The Ropes Episode #54: Guests Amir Khan & Tavoris Cloud". Blogtalkradio. 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ^ "A gift for Pakistan". The Bolton News. 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "'No Messin' Live! 2006' - railway safety campaign". Network Rail. 2006-07-06. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Syed, Matthew (2006-09-23). "Bolton wanderer on pilgrimage from Mecca to Muhammad". London: The Times. 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.
- ^ Francis, Nick (2008-03-01). "Amir Khan Helps mend Broken Britain". London: The Sun. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "Socially conscious Khan giving back to local youth in community". ESPN. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ "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". London: 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.
- ^ "Khan cleared by police". Sky Sports. 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Trainer Rubio is ditched by Khan". BBC News. 20 September 2008.
- ^ http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news/st...OXING_Khan.html
- ^ http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=314558&cat=boxer
External links
- Amir Khan's official photos
- Amir Khan's official record
- Amir Khan's official fan site
- Amir's Pakistani fans tribute thread
- Boxing record for Amir Khan from BoxRec (registration required)
- Amir Khan at IMDb
- Video interview Amir Khan in Leeds
- Amir Khan a victim of his own success
- britishboxing.net profile
- Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from July 2009
- 1986 births
- Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- English boxers
- English Muslims
- English people of Pakistani descent
- Lightweights
- Living people
- Olympic boxers of Great Britain
- Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain
- People from Bolton
- Punjabi people
- WBO Champions