By T.D Gibb
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I must say that I have been a fan of Amir Khan for a while he seemed to be a good kid, carried himself in public well, very well spoken in interviews and was the anti Prince Naseem Hamed in terms of persona.
When people around my local pub would talk mess about Amir, I would be first to defend the young man, even when he had his driving mishaps “I would say well mates he is just a young man, we all make mistakes and were wild once, he is still learning”
When he suffered his first loss by first round knockout to Breidis Prescott I told everyone I knew “Khan will bounce back, everyone loses but a true champ comes back from defeat”
Now, though, it is a bit hard to defend Khan after the statements he made before his first round knockout victory of Jewish boxer Dmitry Salita.
This is what Amir said “‘I know if, maybe, I was a white English fighter, I would be a superstar in Britain, I never get racist remarks but it’s always out there which you can’t stop.”
‘I went to the Olympic Games for Britain and won a medal for Britain and then won a world title for Britain but sometimes you don’t see the appreciation.’ I lost a bit of respect for Amir, especially since what he said made absolutely no sense.
Amir’s playing of the race card had me dumbfounded, it was so out of his character. First if you never got any racist remarks towards you why did you make those ignorant comments?
You were already a star straight out of the 2004 Olympics, signed endorsements deals and picked up by Frank Warren Promotions. If anything you were appreciated way beyond any other young boxer and hyped up more than any other British fighter of recent years.
Maybe Amir has gone Hollywood on us, since training in Hollywood, California land of the stars, Amir has shown major interest in living their and fighting over in the States.
Go ahead Amir fight in America, become a star there, make all the money you can, date all the Hollywood beauties, but remember that even men like Chris Eubank and Prince Naseem Hamed as brash and colorful as they were never cried and played the race card.
Skin color has nothing to do with it, it is an insecurity that Khan has about himself that made him say those things.
For example, look at Frank Bruno, he wasn’t white, he was a black boxer who was so beloved by the British because he had a genuine heart and spirit that the British public found endearing and could relate too.
I think Amir should take a page out of his stablemate Manny Pacquiao’s book.
Pacman is a superstar of epic proportion loved by many and hated by few. Even when people question him and talk down about him he doesn’t pay them any attention. Pacquiao does his talking in the ring and never cries about being mistreated he sucks it up and fights on and perseveres.
In the end those statements Amir made about race and not being a superstar made him come off as a spoiled brat, what more does he want?
Some men are fighting in utter obscurity but the fame that Amir has is not good enough, these are signs of an egoist, what more does he want? People to bow to him and sing him praises?
Amir has no reason to cry about having it bad, from the get go he was put on a pedestal after winning the Olympic boxing silver medal for Britain in 2004. Other British fighters never got the same type of instant fame and adulation that Amir was given by the British public.
Amir needs to develop a thicker skin, you cannot have the whole world love you, and like I said even the humble and kind hearted warrior Manny Pacquiao has a lot of haters, yet he turns the other cheek and fights on because that is what fighters do.
(Please refrain from leaving any Vulgar, Racist comments or they will be removed, Thank You)
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