ATHENS, Aug 26: Already the revelation of the Olympic boxing tournament, Amir Khan can only improve and might become one of the sport's greatest names, the Briton's coach said on Thursday.

"He's 17 years old and he's awesome," coach Terry Edwards said of Britain's talented lightweight, who will face Serik Yeleuov of Kazakhstan on Friday for a place in the final.

"I can't imagine what he's going to be like when he's 19." Edwards had hitherto been irritated by comparisons with the likes of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard but Amir's brilliant run in Athens has left him almost lost for words.

"I wish I could say whether he's going to be the greatest fighter," he said. "Maybe." Yeleuov should not be a problem, said Edwards, already imagining a final against Cuba's Mario Kindelan, arguably the world's best pound-for-pound amateur boxer.

"He's facing a tough, 24-year-old southpaw with long range but I'm certain he will be able to cope with that," the coach said of Amir's next opponent. Amir has already faced Kindelan once, in a test event here in May, and lost on points.

"Amir is on the way up and it would be a much closer bout," Edwards said. "He would go in against Kindelan as the underdog but that's how we would like it." The world junior champion, Amir had his sights set on the next Olympics until he qualified for this one and has amazed the British coach by progressing so fast.

"I've seen tremendous changes in Amir since I've had him over the last year," Edwards said. "He has grown in stature and has become more of a man. "In his very first senior event he was trying to take his gloves off after the third round because the juniors only box three rounds (instead of four).

"In his second senior competition, he fought the number three in the world and he stopped him." Offers for Amir to turn professional will soon abound and Edwards admitted they might be hard to resist.

"We won't allow any direct phone call from any professional promoter here but we are obviously expecting them to come in after the Games," he said. "There's absolutely no way any amateur federation can match professional offers but we have to put it into perspective with Amir that at 17 he's still got another Olympics in him."

Exciting inside the ropes, Amir has gentle manners out of the ring, much to Edwards's liking and unlike, the coach said, Britain's most recent Olympic boxing champion. "Amir's a very loyal and respectful person and an absolute joy to work with," Edwards said. "At the last Olympics I coached Audley Harrison who is quite a different type of nature. It was hard work." -Reuters