By Terence Dooley
Outspoken Denton-based trainer Joe Gallagher, who guided Matthew Macklin to victory in Ireland last weekend, has hit out at Amir Khan’s claim that ‘I know if I were a white English fighter, I would be a superstar in Britain and the world’ by declaring that the WBA light-welterweight champion is bringing race into sport.
Gallagher complained about Amir’s claims when speaking with Channel M news. “I don’t know who advised him about the comment ‘if he was white he’d be a superstar’. I don’t think there is a place for racism in sport - it’s about talent,” declared Gallagher.
“You had the likes of Naz and Eubank years ago, they were characters, they never played the race card. It’s only Amir’s first world title. You have to look along side who he trains with, Manny Pacquiao, he won a title years ago and wasn’t claiming silly things like Amir is. Maybe in a few more years Amir will have a superstar status.”
Gallagher will now busy himself with John Murray’s upcoming fight against EBU boss Anthony Mezaache; the trainer has long declared that Murray will rise to the top of the world lightweight tree, and the EBU battle with Mezaache should see his man make further inroads into the WBC top ten. Murray is ranked at #8 in the latest WBC rankings; Mezaache is sitting pretty at number 3; the fight could double-up as a world title eliminator.
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