Amir Khan (boxer)

Early life

Khan was born and raised in Bolton, Greater Manchester, to a Punjabi Rajput family with roots in Matore village of Kahuta Tehsil, located in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab, Pakistan. He was educated at Smithills School in Bolton, and Bolton Community College. Khan is 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, an undefeated 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 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 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.

Highlights

Early career

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 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 break-up was blamed on Harrison's concerns that Khan's public engagements were interfering with his fight preparations. Khan's spokesman told reporters there was "nothing personal" between Khan and Harrison. 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. 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. 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". 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.

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".

Khan vs. Prescott

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; a stiff jab jerked Khan's head back and foreshadowed what was to come. Prescott landed a left hook that jabbed Khan's temple; dizzying his senses. Instead of holding, Khan tried to punch back, but instead was punched on the head by a left hook, right hook combo, sending him crashing to the canvas. He managed to get to his feet. Prescott ended it for good with another left that put Khan down again. This time, he was unable to get up. It was officially over in 55 seconds.The fight was at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Khan's Sky Box Office debut.

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 lightweight champion and pound-for-pound 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. Frank Warren promoted Khan's fight against the veteran Barrera, perhaps Khan's highest-profile opponent to date. Barrera was ranked No. 1 and Khan No. 5 in the WBO world lightweight rankings. Previous IBF and WBO 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. However, the world-title status was instead given to the fight between Juan Manuel Márquez and Juan Diaz, ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively by the WBO.

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.

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.

Khan vs. Kotelnik, Salita

It was announced on April 8, 2009 Khan would move up to the light welterweight division to fight Andreas Kotelnik (31-2-1, 13 KOs) at the MEN Arena in Manchester for the WBA light welterweight title on 18 July. Khan Said, "This is the best news that I could have received. To fight for the world title in only my 22nd fight and at the age of just 22 is fantastic. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out win it." This would be Kotelnik's fourth title defense. Khan won by a unanimous decision, 120–108, 118–111, 118–111, in front of 10,000, and became the third-youngest Brit to win a world title, at the age of 22. Khan's lightning hand speed and fitness gave him the advantages to go well ahead on points in the first ten rounds. Kotelnik rallied in the closing rounds but could not land a decisive punch on Khan, Kotelnik throwing everything he had in the final two stanzas.

On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA light welterweight title against undefeated Ukrainian American boxer Dmitry Salita (30-0-1, 16 KOs), the mandatory challenger, on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. 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. On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated mandatory challenger Salita in 76 seconds, winning by TKO in the first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time after just 10 seconds into the fight. It was the first ever loss of Salita's career.

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.

Khan vs. Malignaggi, Maidana

On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that 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. The fight was for the WBA light welterweight title, which Khan won in the 11th round. 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.

Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against WBA interim champion and mandatory challenger, Marcos Maidana who held a record of 29 wins, 27 knockouts and only 1 loss. Khan knocked Maidana down with a combination of 2 body shots in the first round. Maidana was saved by the bell but somehow regained composure and continued to battle on. Khan dominated the scoring until tiring around round 7. Maidana rallied and midway through round 10 stunned Khan with a heavy right hand. Maidana landed a series of follow up uppercuts and rights but could not drop Khan. Khan then rallied to win rounds 11 and 12 to solidify a unanimous points decision. The fight was awarded Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Khan vs. McCloskey, Judah

Khan took on Paul McCloskey in his next fight. The 31-year-old Northern Irishman was unbeaten in 22 fights and was ranked world number 10. Khan won a sixth-round technical decision after Paul McCloskey was cut by an unintentional head-butt and could not go on in the estimation of the ring doctor. The heads of Khan and McCloskey collided about two minutes into the sixth round, causing a bad cut on the inside of McCloskey'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. The fight was shown in the US on HBO and averaged 1.2 million viewers.

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

On 31 May 2011, Khan agreed to fight Zab Judah in attempt to unify the IBF and WBA Light Welterweight titles in Las Vegas on 23 July. Amir Khan started the fight with a left jab. Round 1 saw a busy Amir Khan as he fought from the outside and kept Judah away with jabs and straights. All four rounds were taken by Khan. Ultimately on the fifth round Zab was taken down with a right uppercut to the body, in which at first commentators believed it was a low blow, since Judah was showing signs of agonising pain, but when it was seen from a different camera angle, it was right on the belt, leading to an 18th knockout for Amir Khan in his career so far. The fight averaged 1.4 million viewers on HBO.

Khan vs. Peterson, Garcia

Lamont Peterson defeated Khan for the WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles in Washington DC on 10 December 2011 by split decision in a very controversial affair.

Khan was docked 2 points in rounds 7 and 12 by the referee Joe Cooper for pushing, although illegal pushing is not usually met with such harsh consequences, the HBO team picked up on this. Peterson was dropped to the canvas twice, although the first time was counted as a slip instead of a legitimate knockdown. Both fighters boxed well and two judges scored it 113–112 to Peterson, with the other 115–110 to Khan (originally announced as 114–111 to Khan). Some observers felt it was a hometown robbery as Peterson is from Washington DC, while many felt that Khan wasn't treat fairly.

It was later found that Peterson had tested positive for PEDs and was stripped of the WBA title. He admitted to the use of steroids shortly after. Khan was then reinstated as the WBA champion.

His next fight was on 14 July 2012, in Las Vegas, against the undefeated American Danny Garcia for the WBC Championship. At the pre-fight press conference on 4 June, Khan and Garcia's fathers got into a heated exchange resulting in both fighters promising to knock the other out on 14 July. Khan also stated his desire to move up to the 147 lbs division if successful against Garcia, for potential bouts with high-profile boxers like Floyd Mayweather and Timothy Bradley, although Bradley has previously rejected a fight with Khan in order for a fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Khan entered the Garcia fight as a heavy favourite and through the first two rounds and most of the third he outlanded Garcia while Garcia was finding the range. However, the tide turned against Khan very late in the third round as Garcia was able to land a hard counterpunch off a missed right. Khan hit the canvas and suddenly had to fight to stay alive as Garcia's punch to the neck and jaw badly hurt him. Only the bell saved Khan from a second knockdown and Garcia kept pressing early in round four, forcing Khan to take a second standing eight count after he touched the canvas with his glove. Khan regrouped and was temporarily able to go back at Garcia, but with less than a minute left in the round Khan was dropped a third time. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight despite Khan assuring him he could continue, deciding enough was enough. The fight averaged 1.3 million viewers on HBO World Championship Boxing.

Khan vs. Molina

Soon after Khan joined with new trainer Virgil Hunter it was announced that he would make his comeback fight against undefeated American Carlos Molina (17–0, 7 KOs). The fight was aired on Showtime, on 15 December 2012, and took place in the LA Sports Arena in California. Khan defeated Molina by TKO in the tenth round and won the WBC Silver Light Welterweight title. Khan pushed Molina onto the back foot and landed a sharp right hand that cut Molina over the left eye. Khan was stiffened by a right hook in the second before steadying the ship and resuming control of the contest. Molina's cut deteriorating badly and taking plenty of punishment. Referee Jack Reiss suggested his corner pull him out at the end of the ninth, however Molina was sent out for more, despite it being abundantly clear that he did not have the tools to do Khan much damage. Khan started to let his hands go more in round 10, after which his corner finally decided it had seen enough.

After defeating Molina, American boxer Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO) became the front-runner to fight Khan next in April 2013. It was said that Lopez would be returning to the welterweight after being beaten at light middleweight by Canelo Álvarez.

Khan vs. Diaz, Collazo

Following his victory over Molina, Khan returned to the UK, for a fight against 33 year old Julio Díaz (40-7-1, 29 KOs) on 27 April 2013 in a 143 lbs 'catch-weight' bout. Khan was able to control some of the fight and managed to survive a fourth-round knockdown from Diaz. Khan managed to hold on throughout the fight to go onto win the fight by a fairly close unanimous decision. The scorecards; Phil Edwards 114–113 – Steve Gray 115–113 – Terry O'Connor 115–112.

Khan fought Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KOs) on 3 May 2014 at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, on the undercard of Mayweather vs. Maidana. This was for the vacant WBA International welterweight title and WBA title eliminator as well as Vacant WBC Silver title. Khan was too fast and too disciplined for Collazo, flooring him in the fourth round and twice in the 10th. The judges scored the fight 117-106, 119-104, 119-104 in Khan's favour. Khan and Collazo both incurred point deductions in round 8. Collazo hit Khan with a low blow while Khan was holding his head down. Collazo's failed approach resulted in a mismatch on the scorecards. Collazo fought with his hands down most of the night, unafraid of Khan, believing Khan had no power and he would eventually knock him out. In the post fight interview in the ring after the bout, Khan credited his 12 months of boxing training with Virgil Hunter for his success. Khan's purse for the fight was $1.5m while Collazo earned $350,000.

Khan vs. Alexander

On 13 December 2014, in front of 7,768 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, one year after pulling out of the fight, Khan produced a dominant performance to secure a unanimous points victory over former IBF Welterweight champion Devon Alexander . All three judges scored heavily in Khan's favour, 119–109, 118–110 and 120–108, after his victory Khan reiterated his desire to fight American Floyd Mayweather. Alexander followed Khan around the ring throughout but was unable to land more than one punch at a time as Khan met him in his tracks with hard combinations. Khan outlanded Alexander 243 to 91, according to CompuBox, and connected on 43 percentage of his shots, compared to just 20 percent for Alexander.

Khan vs. Algieri

After Khan himself initially announced the fight on his wife's YouTube channel on 3 April, a welterweight bout against former WBO super lightweight champion Chris Algieri (20-1, 8 KOs) was later finalized to take to place on 29 May 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Khan won the bout by unanimous decision, winning on all three judges scorecards (115–113, 117–111 and 117–111). Following the victory, Khan was now 5-0 against New York opponents. Khan counterpunched effectively from the outside after being surprised with Algieri's aggression majority of rounds in a fairly close contest. Algieri fought a far better fight than he did against Manny Pacquiao, throwing more punches and landing some power shots.

Khan vs. Álvarez

In early 2016, it was announced that Khan is moving up two weight divisions to middleweight, to fight Saul "Canelo" Álvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) for his lineal, Ring and WBC world middleweight championship titles. The fight took place on 7 May 2016, at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout was on HBO PPV. Golden Boy Promotions expected the fight to bring in 2 million PPV buys. Canelo was likely to be getting a career payday against Khan because this is a fight that will almost surely bring in more PPV buys on HBO than Canelo's last fight against Miguel Cotto last November. That fight brought in 900,000 PPV buys on HBO. Khan eventually lost to Álvarez by way of knockout in Round 6. Although many believe Khan was ahead on points including ESPN, two of the ringside judges had Canelo ahead after five round (49-46 & 48-47), the third judge had Khan ahead (48-47). With the scorecards heading towards a split decision halfway through the fight, Khan admitted, "it may have been a blessing being knocked out in the 6th round, rather than an upset loss on the scorecards after 12 rounds. According to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 64 of 170 (38 percent) and Khan landed 48 of 166 punches (29 percent), though only one of their shots really mattered.

The fight generated a live gate of $7,417,350, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That total came from 13,072 tickets sold, far short of a sellout. The Alvarez-Khan gross places it 34th-best in Nevada history. On pay-per-view, the fight sold about 600,000 PPV buys and grossed about $30 million. This makes it one of the biggest recent PPV fights, behind Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Álvarez, and surpassing Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III and Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto.

Khan vs. TBA

On 26 February 2017, Khan and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao both tweeted a deal had been reached between both camps for a 'super fight' to take place on April 23. Abu Dhabi and UAE were front runners to host the fight worth potentially £30 million, with USA and UK also being a possibility. Pacquiao was initially in negotiations to fight Jeff Horn in Australia, but held a poll asking the fans who he should fight next. Khan won the poll, thus setting up the fight. The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, Zayed Sports City Stadium and Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi were being considered as the venue. Speaking to Bob Arum on March 1, Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz confirmed the fight will take place on May 19 in the United States which means it would be a Friday night PPV and May 20 in the middle-east. In the early morning of 2 March, Bob Arum stated that the date of the fight was not close to being set with Khan's representatives. Later that day, Khan's camp confirmed they had agreed the revised fight date. Bob Arum told ESPN on 8 March that there was never a deal in place for the fight to take place, "It's kaddish for the UAE deal. It's dead." Arum also mentioned that if there was any chance the fight can take place, it would be in the second half of 2017 and that Khan would not be Pacquiao's next opponent.

Trainers

Amir Khan Academy

Khan said that he was building a boxing academy called the Amir Khan Academy to produce Pakistani boxing champions.

Personal life

In addition to boxing, Khan enjoys participation in cricket, basketball, and football where he supports his local Bolton Wanderers team and had previously used the club's training facilities.

On 29 January 2012, Khan became engaged to Pakistani-American student, Faryal Makhdoom of Staten Island, NY. A thousand friends and family were in attendance, including boxer Ricky Hatton. The couple finally married on 31 May 2013 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The couple then flew back to Khan's hometown of Bolton where a second celebration, a traditional Walima, took place in Manchester, which included 4,000 guests. Their first child, a daughter named Lamaisah, was born on 23 May 2014.

As of July 2013, his net worth was £23 million ($31 million). In 2014, he earned $15 million that year, making him the sixth highest-earning boxer of 2014.

In September 2013, Khan stated his plans to 'make Bolton better', by doing so, he would invest £5 million into a wedding and banqueting hall in Washington Street, Deane. This would also help create up to 125 jobs in the local area. Original plans were for it to be ready within 18 months, with an all glass front. On 23 November, 2016 Khan made an announcement of the other businesses that would open alongside the banqueting hall, This included FMK make-up shop, to be run by his wife Faryal, Argeela Lounge, which is a shisha bar and restaurant, popular British-Asian curry firm My Lahore, another buffet restaurant and coffee shop.

On 4 August 2017, Amir announced that he and Faryal had agreed to split.

Charitable and community work

Khan has past and present involvements in supporting charitable and community causes. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, he was among those who raised money for its victims, and in the following year he visited Pakistan to dispense food in a camp set up after the Kashmir earthquake. He has also been involved with a campaign that promotes child safety around British railways, one that seeks improvements to the criminal justice system, and another that encourages men to play a role in ending violence against women.

Khan has supported various charities, including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), National Literacy Trust, and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

In December 2013, Khan hosted a fundraising dinner to support Islamic Relief's Philippines Appeal in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, raising £83,400.

In 2015, he received an honorary degree from the University of Bolton for his contributions to sport and charity.

Media

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 Geoffrey Hatton, a pedestrian who was using a pelican crossing while Khan was travelling at 47 mph in a 30 mph zone and overtaking in the wrong lane. He was cleared of dangerous driving but charged with the lesser offence of careless driving and the pedestrian received an interim payment of £40,000. Geoffrey Hatton never fully recovered from the incident and died two years afterwards from a gastrointestinal bleed with Khan passing on his sympathies.

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. On 7 January 2008, Khan was fined £1000 and banned for 42 days for the speeding offence.

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

Mixed martial arts promotion

In 2016, Khan announced that he, along with Super Fight League, would introduce India's first team-based MMA league, with events expected to be held in India, the United States, Canada, and Dubai.

Honours

Khan was a 2005 nominee for the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year. He was a nominee for the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award after defeating Zab Judah.

In January 2013, he was nominated for the Best at Sport award at the British Muslim Awards.

In 2014, he was given Pride of Performance from the President of Pakistan.