By Sonia RANDEV
On Wednesday 10th January in front of a packed press conference, Amir Khan announced his much anticipated return to the world of boxing.
After posting across his social media channels that a big announcement was going to be made in London, rumours began to circulate suggesting that he had signed with either Eddie Hearn or Frank Warren.
The wait was finally over and it was official. Amir had signed a three fight promotional deal for 2018 with Matchroom Boxing.
Ironic to most as Eddie Hearn and Amir Khan are known to have been involved in a fair few public spats over the years but it was back to business for the former unified light welterweight world champion and Olympic Silver medallist.
Speaking to Sky Sports of the news of his decision to sign to Matchroom boxing:
“I said to my father before I left for the jungle to have a word with Eddie and let’s see if we can get this deal done. As soon as I left, my dad said it’s looking good and I think that we could have a deal on the table. So as soon as I got back the deal was made, me and Eddie shook hands and signed the contract. We’ve done a three fight deal together and I am really looking forward to it. I mean me and Eddie have had our ups and downs in the previous years but look this is business and I think working with Eddie who is probably the best boxing promoter in the UK definitely makes sense for me.”
Eddie Hearn, Managing director of Matchroom Sport spoke of his delight of adding yet another talented star to his ever growing stable of boxers.
“ It’s a press conference I never thought I would see, but it’s one I am hugely excited about. Amir Khan has signed a three fight promotional deal with Matchroom boxing and will be returning to the ring on April 21st at the Liverpool Echo Arena.This is an exciting time for British boxing.”
Khan’s absence from the ring left most to wonder whether the former world champion had anything left in the tank after his defeat to Canelo Alvarez in 2015.It has also been five years since Amir has fought in the UK.
When it was announced that he would be participating in I’m a celebrity.. Get me out of here; many thought that this could be a seriously bad PR move after a turbulent year filled with personal issues surrounding his family and wife.
However the stint proved to be a very clever marketing move, winning over the UK public with his cheeky antics and made perfect sense to act upon the back off it’s success and get his boxing career on the right track.
His opponent is likely to be announced at the full press conference in Liverpool next week.King Khan has certainly announced his return to boxing with a bang.
