Amir Khan (boxer)

Amir Iqbal Khan (born 8 December 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2022. Born and raised in Bolton, Khan began to box competitively at the age of 11. He rose to fame during the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he won a silver medal in the lightweight division and became at the age of 17, Britain's youngest boxing Olympic medalist. He turned professional in 2005. In 2007, he was named ESPN prospect of the year. He later became one of the youngest ever British professional world champions, winning the World Boxing Association (WBA) title at the age of 22.

Khan won the Commonwealth lightweight title in 2007. A year later, he won the WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title when he beat Martin Kristjansen via TKO. Later that year, he would lose the title to Breidis Prescott via KO, in one of the biggest upsets in British boxing history. His next three fights saw him win the vacant WBA International lightweight title, the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title, and the WBA light-welterweight title. He made his US debut against Paulie Malignaggi in May 2010, where he retained his WBA light-welterweight title. In 2011, he won the IBF light-welterweight title when he beat Zab Judah via KO in the fifth round. In July 2012, he lost the WBA (Super) light welterweight title against Danny Garcia. Later that year, he won the vacant WBC Silver interim light-welterweight title when he beat Carlos Molina via RTD. In 2014, he beat Luis Collazo for the WBA International and vacant WBC Silver welterweight titles. Between 2016 and 2019, Khan challenged for the WBC, The Ring middleweight titles and the WBO welterweight title. In July 2019, he won the vacant WBC International welterweight title when he beat Billy Dib via TKO in the fourth round.

Known for his hand speed and accuracy, Khan is regarded as one of the most successful British boxers of all time. He is credited with popularising boxing amongst British Pakistanis and British Asians, as well as inspiring South Asian involvement in all aspects of British boxing. Outside of boxing, he is a philanthropist with his own charity organisation, Amir Khan Foundation. He is also a promoter and sponsor, the owner of Khan Promotions and Pakistan's Amir Khan Academy, and a co-owner of India's Super Fight League (MMA) and Super Boxing League. As a celebrity, he has participated in several reality television and game shows. In 2017, he appeared on the seventeenth series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, where he was the 7th celebrity to be voted out.

Early life

Khan was born and raised in Bolton, Greater Manchester, to a Pakistani Punjabi Rajput family with roots in Matore village of Kahuta Tehsil, located in Rawalpindi District of Punjab, Pakistan. He was educated at Smithills School in Bolton, and Bolton Community College. Khan is a Muslim, and a member of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, along with being an active supporter of the Muslim Writers Awards.

Khan has two sisters and one brother, Haroon "Harry" Khan, also a professional boxer. He is the first cousin of English cricketer Sajid Mahmood, related through a paternal grandfather, Lal Khan Janjua, who moved to England after being discharged from the Pakistan Army.

Amateur boxing 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. In early 2004 he won a gold medal at the European Student Championships in Lithuania, and in South Korea several months later he won a 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. Overall, he compiled an amateur record of 101–9.

2004 Olympics

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 Kindelán, 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.

His Olympic fights drew an audience of nearly 8 million viewers on BBC, including 8 million viewers watching his final Olympic match with Kindelan. His 2005 rematch with Kindelan drew an audience of 6.3 million viewers on ITV.

Highlights

• 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 Shtilianov, Jong Sub Baik and Serik Yeleuov. He lost to Mario Kindelán 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 career

Lightweight

Early career

He made his professional debut against David Bailey in July 2005. The fight drew an audience of 4.4 million viewers, which was ITV's best Saturday night viewing figures of the month. By 2006, his fights were averaging between 6 million and 7 million viewers on ITV.

Khan won his first regional title on 14 July 2007, beating Willie Limond at The O2 Arena to become Commonwealth lightweight champion. Khan was floored in the sixth round, but recovered to score a knock down in the following round. Limond was retired by his corner at the end of round eight due to a broken nose and suspected jaw damage.

On 2 February 2008, Khan was scheduled to fight Martin Kristjansen, but illness forced the Dane to withdraw. Instead, Khan had to defend his Commonwealth title against late replacement Gairy St. Clair at the ExCel Arena, London. It was his first fight to last all twelve rounds and he won via a unanimous decision, with shutout scores of 120–108 from all three judges.

On 5 April 2008, Khan beat Kristjansen, dropping him three times in the seventh round to force a technical knockout (TKO) stoppage. Following the victory, Khan was made number one contender for the WBO lightweight title.

Following the fight, Khan split from his trainer Oliver Harrison, the trainer for all of his previous 17 professional contests. The break-up was blamed on Harrison's concerns that Khan's public engagements were interfering with his fight preparations. 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.

Khan fought on 21 June 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Irishman Michael Gomez, a former WBU super-featherweight champion. Khan knocked Gomez down twice in the fight, once in the opening round, and once in the fifth before the referee waved the fight off, giving Khan the victory via TKO. Still, Khan himself was hurt at various times during the fight, and was himself dropped in the second round. Despite Khan's eagerness at a world title shot, his promoter, Frank Warren, insisted that "He needs more schooling".

Khan vs. Prescott, Fagan

Following the Gomez fight, Jorge Rubio was installed as Khan's new trainer. In early August, the lightweight Breidis Prescott was put forward by Rubio as Khan's next opponent. Rubio had previously coached Richar Abril, who had recently lost a close decision to Prescott. Prescott had a prolific knock-out record of 17 KOs in 19 contests, yet Khan was a huge favourite.

The fight took place on 6 September 2008 at the Manchester Evening News Arena, it was Khan's Sky Box Office debut. In the first round, Prescott came out fast and landed good shots; a stiff jab jerked Khan's head back and foreshadowed what was to come. Prescott landed a left hook on Khan's temple, dizzying his senses. Instead of holding, Khan tried to fire back, but was hit to the head by a left hook, right hook combination that sent him crashing to the canvas. Although Khan managed to return to his feet, Prescott forced the stoppage with another left that put Khan down again. The bout was officially called off at 55 seconds.

Following the defeat, Rubio was sacked and was replaced by Freddie Roach. Khan began training with Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, training alongside stablemate Manny Pacquiao, the then WBC lightweight champion and pound-for-pound king. On 6 December 2008, Khan scored a comeback win against Oisin Fagan with a second-round stoppage; 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 after he was knocked down again in the second. Following the fight, it emerged that Fagan had suffered a fractured fibula during the first knockdown.