Amir Khan

Boxer

Popular As Amir Khan (boxer)

Birthday December 8, 1986

Birth Sign Sagittarius

Birthplace Bolton, Greater Manchester, England

Age 37 years old

Nationality United Kingdom

Height 5 ft 81⁄2 in (174 cm)

Weight Lightweight Light-welterweight Welterweight Middleweight

#3331 Most Popular

1976

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.

1986

Amir Iqbal Khan (born 8 December 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2022.

2003

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.

2004

As an amateur boxer, he won a silver medal in the lightweight division at the 2004 Olympics, becoming at the age of 17, Britain's youngest boxing Olympic medalist.

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.

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.

2005

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 8million viewers on BBC, including 8million viewers watching his final Olympic match with Kindelan.

His 2005 rematch with Kindelan drew an audience of 6.3million viewers on ITV.

He made his professional debut against David Bailey in July 2005.

The fight drew an audience of 4.4million viewers, which was ITV's best Saturday night viewing figures of the month.

2006

By 2006, his fights were averaging between 6million and 7million viewers on ITV.

2007

At regional level, he held the Commonwealth lightweight title from 2007 to 2008.

In 2007, he was named ESPN prospect of the year.

He later became one of the youngest ever British professional world champions, winning the WBA title at the age of 22.

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 also participated in several reality television and game shows.

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.

2008

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.

2009

He held unified light-welterweight world championships between 2009 and 2012, including the WBA (later Super) and IBF titles.

2014

He also held the WBC Silver welterweight title from 2014 to 2016, and once challenged for the WBC and Ring magazine middleweight titles in 2016.

Khan was known for his hand speed and accuracy.

2017

In 2017, Khan appeared on the seventeenth series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

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.