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| January 22, 2006 | Sunday | Zilhaj 21, 1426 |
Amir confident of winning world title
LONDON, Jan 21: Amir Khan believes he will get a shot at a world title bout before he is old enough to fight for a British Championship.
The 19-year-old, silver medallist in the lightweight division at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, will look to continue an unbeaten start to his professional career when he meets Belarus’s Vitali Martynov - his first foreign opponent in the paid ranks and fifth in all - in Nottingham on Jan 28.
However, Aamir has already announced that his sixth fight as a professional will take place on the undercard of the Commonwealth heavyweight title bout between Danny Williams and British champion, Matt Skelton, at London’s Excel Arena on Feb 25.
Aamir’s planned schedule of regular fights sits well with his aim of being a genunine world title contender by the end of this year.
“It’s my ambition to be one of the youngest world champions ever,” Aamir said. “To fight for a British title you have to be 21 so I might be a world champion before that.
“I had that in the amateurs where I was a world junior champion and won the Olympic silver medal before I was old enough to box in the ABA (Amateur Boxing Association) Championships. I think maybe I can do that, make the same sort of jump as a professional.”
But Aamir stressed he would not be under-estimating the threat posed by the 22-year-old Martynov - winner of 10 of his 11 fights, with seven victories inside the distance.
Although he has had the physical edge in his first four professional contests, Aamir is now up against a fully-fledged lightweight and someone who, at 5ft 10in, is the same height as the British hope.
“It looks a well-matched fight and he’s got a good record - but I think a lot of people will find out how good I can be,” Amir said of Martynov.
Amir has had to endure plenty of media interest ever since his success in Athens but another talented young British sportsman, tennis player Andy Murray, has struggled to cope with the pressures of the spotlight and criticised the treatment he’d received from the press following his first round loss at the Australian Open this week.
But Amir, who let fight fan Murray train with him at his gym in Salford near Manchester, had some encouraging words for the Scotsman.
“I can cope with it all right but it seems that Andy can’t cope at the moment. I’m sure when Andy learns to get over that, he will be all right. We’ve both got our targets to be champions and I’m sure we can make it.”—AFP
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