Amir Khan

Amir Khan’s talent as a boxer was evident from an early age and he won virtually every junior national championships in which he was eligible to compete. After winning the World Junior Championships in early 2004 it was decided by the British boxing team selectors to enter Khan in the final European Olympic qualifying event.

Still only 17 and too young to compete in the national amateur championships, Khan comfortably won the tournament and became the youngest British Olympic boxer for 30 years. He beat the champions of Europe and Asia to reach the final at the Athens Olympics but the experience of Cuba’s Mario Kindelan was too much for Khan and he was forced to settle for the silver medal.

By now approaching superstar status in Britain he elected to join the ranks of professional boxing and made his pro début in July 2005. He won his first 18 fights before being the victim of a first-round knockout at the hands of Breidis Prescott in the summer 2008 but rebounded to win the WBA light-welterweight title 12 months later. Khan added the IBF version of the title in early 2011 but lost both versions of the title in an upset defeat to Lamont Peterson in December of the same year.

His younger brother, Haroon, has represented his parents’ homeland of Pakistan as a boxer whilst his cousin, Sajid Mahmood, has been a member of the England cricket team.