Amir Khan dreams of Dubai as the next hub of boxing

British boxer Amir Khan during an event in Dubai. (Photo by Shihab)

Dubai - Amir hopes to find an oasis in the desert.

By James Jose

Published: Sat 15 Dec 2018, 9:54 PM

It is a cool Thursday afternoon and Amir Khan is lounging at one of Dubai's beach front hotels. And it is a striking backdrop - the magnificent Burj Al Arab glancing over. And just like the gigantic structure, the famed British-Asian boxer, who has had an illustrious career so far, has a big dream, a dream of making Dubai the next hub of boxing.
Amir Khan is ready to walk the talk and has taken his hero and his biggest inspiration's words quite literally. "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth," the legend Muhammad Ali once said. And Amir intends to do just that - give back to boxing for what it has given him.
But conquering new frontiers is by no means easy and Amir hopes to find an oasis in the desert, so to speak.
"Dubai hasn't had a big boxing event here. And I'm happy to come here and have a fight here," Amir told the Khaleej Times in a freewheeling chat.
Amir was in Dubai as brand ambassador of Berkeley Assets and attended a festive celebration on Wednesday night.
"But when it comes down to speaking to the right people they don't get back to us. I don't want to do this as one event in Dubai, for example, me against Manny Pacquiao or me versus anyone else. What I want to do in Dubai is I want to be the main boxing promoter here to do not only one event, do continuous events.
"So, we will make Dubai the new hub of boxing. But, at the moment, like I said, we haven't met the right people. We always get promised things from middlemen but nothing really gets done. So, I'm happy to speak to anyone to get this done," he added.
As a step towards that, Amir is willing to speak to Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, the son of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to help bring big time boxing to the country.
"I'd love to meet Sheikh Mohammed's son Sheikh Hamdan, who understands the sport. We just need that one person to give us that authorisation and we will do the rest," said Amir, who turned 32 this month.
Amir has taken events to India and his country of origin Pakistan and spreading the sport, he said, is quite close to his heart.
"This is why I'm putting my own skin in the game and on the table because I want to show how real it is by me being involved in it myself. And me having all that experience in boxing, I want to do it myself to show my commitment. I really believe in it," he said.
To get things started, Amir is planning on opening a boxing academy here.
"I'm in talks at the moment to open a boxing academy. If the goal is to have boxing events here, then what we need to do is start with boxing academies and then from that we go on to boxing events. It is a structure and it is starting from the bottom. Build the academies, get the boxers involved and put them into fights. Boxing is big here but no one has taken it to the next level where they want to promote boxing and hold events here. If Dubai gives me the responsibility to head the boxing side of things, I know for a fact that I would put regular boxing shows on," he said.
Amir revealed that he has the backing of the World Boxing Council (WBC). "I spoke to the WBC and they are very happy to be a part of bringing boxing to Dubai," said Amir.
james@khaleejtimes.com