LONDON, Sept 4: Britain's teenage boxing sensation Amir Khan is being urged to turn professional as soon as he can despite being only 17 years old.
Top promotor Frank Warren told the Olympic lightweight silver medallist that he should waste no time in cashing in on his sudden celebrity.
The Bolton fighter was a smash hit in Athens when he only lost in the final to wily Cuban veteran Mario Kindelan. And he vowed afterwards to come back and win the Olympic gold in Beijing in four years time.
Sports Network chief Warren, however, believes Amir should turn professional instead, warning him: "You can't buy a house or feed your family with a gold medal."
Amir has enlisted a team of prominent sports lawyers and managers to help realise his golden dream and they are only too aware of his marketability and the windfall they could achieve if he were to turn pro.
So they want assurances from British Amateur Boxing Association officials that the governing body's strict rules on commercial ventures will not impinge on Amir's aim to stay financially secure while he trains for China.
Warren, however, feels the best way for Amir to be rewarded for his talents is by joining the paid ranks.
"Amir is a natural for the professional game," Warren told Sky Sports.
"He's got good hand speed, he moves well and I think that as a fight goes on, he'll get stronger. That's why I think he should turn pro now.
"With the rounds that he could get under his belt, fighting more often, fighting a better class of opposition as he goes along in his professional career, I think he has got a very, very good chance of becoming a world champion.
"He's got more chance of becoming a world champion at the age of 21 than he has of winning a gold medal. If he stays as an amateur, he probably will win a gold medal, but I'll guarantee he'll win a world title.-AFP
