The Muslim News - Amir Khan, Britain’s emerging star

Issue 185, Friday 24 September 2004 - 10 Sha'ban 1425

Amir Khan, Britain’s emerging star

By Iman Azim

The 2004 Olympics would witness the birth of new sporting legends. In the context of British athletes, Kelly Holmes became the greatest British athlete after winning two gold medals. James Pinsent won his fourth successive gold, while the British relay team shocked the Americans to the top prize. There were also significant achievements in sailing and cycling. The total medal tally of 32 was the best since the Paris games in 1924, leaving aside the boycotted Olympics of 1984. However, if there was one athlete whose performances captivated an entire nation then it was a skinny 17-year-old from Bolton.
Amir Khan arrived in Greece a virtual unknown. Outside of his hometown and boxing circles (and the readers of The Muslim News, of course (see The Muslim News Issue No 181) the name Amir Khan was more synonymous with a Bollywood film star than a fighting prodigy from the north west of England. However, in two short weeks, the Bolton youngster has made history by becoming the youngest boxer since Floyd Patterson in 1952 to win an Olympic medal.
During the Games itself, Khan proved to be one of the most popular members of the British squad. James Pinsent, Darren Campbell and Marlon Davonish are just some of the athletes who sat at ringside for each of Khan’s contests.
Virtually the entire British media in Athens were present at the Peristeri Hall every time the Lancashire youngster stepped into the ring. The likes of Lennox Lewis, Prince Naseem Hamed and Audley Harrison all sent him messages of support. For a week non-stop, his photograph, along with other family members, graced both the front and back pages of British newspapers. His semi-final contest with Korean Jong Sub Balk Kim attracted over 6.2 million viewers. There is little doubt that Khan was one of the success stories of the Olympics.
Upon his return to the UK, Khan has stated that he would “like to live a normal life”. However, the appointment of the respected law firm Davies Arnold Cooper, who are dealing numerous sponsorship and media requests, highlights how the teenager’s life will never be the same again. Bolton Borough Council hosted a civic reception for their local hero while Bolton Wanderers invited him as their guest of honour at their home match against Manchester United.
Britain’s leading promoter, Frank Warren, is keen to tempt Amir with a multi-million pound deal to turn professional while TV corporations such as Sky and BBC are keen to show such contests on their screens.
The question on everyone’s lips is whether, Khan a student at Bolton College, will turn his back on the amateur game and turn professional? However, it seems the teenage British sporting hero has more pressing issues to deal with. “I am well behind in six assignments. I’m going to be in trouble with my teachers as I have been away for so long,” he says.
Like many British sport stars, Khan’s love life has also been under microscope. On his arrival back from Athens, he was welcomed with The Mirror headline “Khan’s Ring Date”, they claimed that the family of the Olympic silver medallist have selected a future bride. Relatives close to the family state that Khan has agreed to the marriage after being shown a video of the 17-year-old girl, who lives with her mother and sisters in Rawalpindi. The three hour long footage was sent to Amir’s household by the girl’s mother three months ago. The lightweight boxer’s future bride is seen to be wearing a flowing yellow silk dress with traditional Islamic headscarf.
According to his father, Shajaad, who arrived in Bolton from the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi in 1971, “A lot of my family have entered into arranged marriages and they work very well. It is our tradition. Amir never touches alcohol and doesn’t go out with girls. He lives for boxing and his family.” But Shajaad has no intention of rushing his son into anything. Speaking to The Muslim News, Shajaad said: “I’ve read stories in the News of the World, The Sun and The Mirror that we’ve arranged his marriage. Yes, Amir has met the girl and we know her family, but nothing’s set. I hope people don’t believe everything they read.”
Amir Khan’s emergence could not have come at a better time both inside and outside of the ring as household names such as Frank Bruno, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn and Lennox Lewis have retired from sport. Naseem Hamed has gone into hiding since his defeat at the hands of Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera while British boxing’s last Olympic hero in 2000, Audley Harrison, seems determined to drive his career into no-man’s land. Current British world champions, Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton, would struggle to be recognised outside of their hometowns.
Khan is the new star British boxing was desperately crying out for. Already his local club in Bury is inundated with requests from youngsters keen to take up the sport.
Furthermore, at a time when British race relations are being tested to the limit, Khan has become the face of British multiculturalism. His hometown of Bolton may have escaped the disturbances that gripped nearby towns such as Oldham and Burnley, but still has its racial and Islamophobic problems. After the September 11 attacks in New York, petrol bombs were hurled at the town’s Jamia Allavi mosque.
However, on the eve of the Olympic lightweight final, the headline in the Bolton Evening Telegraph summed up the affinity Bolton had for one of its sons - “Fighting for us all”.
In a letter sent to the same paper, Boltonian Harold Heys, wrote, “Could I just say that Amir Khan’s dad, Shajaad, and his Union Flag have done more for cultural harmony in the country in the past few days than the race relations board and its many hangers on have, in nearly 40 years.”
Shajaad is well aware of his son’s achievement and what it could do to moral and multi-faith multi-cultural relations, “My son is a proud Muslim and a proud Brit. I don’t think we can fully grasp the impact he’s having within the British Muslim community, but if he has inspired young Muslims and young Asians to take up sports and leave the streets all the better.”
Muslim Council of Britain Secretary General, Iqbal Sacranie, echoed the above statements. Writing in the Daily Mirror he wrote, “Amir’s remarkable Olympic run could not have come at a better time. The combined effects of the high profile anti-terror raids, the large increase in police stop and search activities and an often hostile press have left many British Muslims feeling unsettled and fearful. Events in Athens deserve to be celebrated – Amir Khan has shown it is perfectly possible to be simultaneously British, Muslim and proud.”
So what does the future hold for Khan? In the coming weeks and months, promoters will offer him lucrative contracts and sponsors will be only too keen for him to ditch the amateur game. According to some boxing insiders he has already signed a deal with Frank Warren.
But that was quickly squashed by Shajeed, “I’ve read so many stories about Amir turning pro, but I can assure you Amir’s goals are primarily aimed at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games (Melbourne, Australia). We’ve been approached. I can’t go into details, but he’s got his heart set on competing in Melbourne in 2006 and Beijing 2008.”
Furthermore he can also expect calls from “family” and “friends” who he has never met and then there will be other numerous hangers on who will encourage him to neglect training and concentrate more on the London night club scene.
The popular theory is that Khan will stay amateur for another two years and turn professional after the World Amateur Championships, which are being held in the Chinese capital in 2006.
However, a lot can happen in two years and like many things in life, money will be the deciding factor. Khan’s family and advisors can do no better than listen to the former super middleweight boxing champion, Chris Eubank, who believes Britain’s newest boxing star will have to resist the temptation that stardom brings. He said, “He is an inspiration. This young boy has the potential to entertain me and that’s all I ask. What he has done is a wonderful thing. But they need to keep his feet on the ground and keep him hungry. When you give a young fighter money you kill his potential and when you give him celebrity you kill his hunger. If you give a child too much he will end up no good and fighters are the same.”