By Ryan Burton
Decorated amateur and recent Square Ring Promotion's signee Fes Batista recently spoke to BoxingScene.com about his personal experiences with former two-division champion Amir Khan. Later tonight Khan faces Devon Alexander at the the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Amir is a very positive guy with a lot of energy. He can't stay still for too long! He is always doing charity work and giving back. Sometimes the media knows about (the charity work) and sometimes they don't but Amir doesn't care, that is in his nature to give back," Batista explained.
Many British boxers dream of fighting in the United States. Batista and Khan aren't any different. Batista's first taste of American hospitality for British boxers occurred in 2011 when Khan fought Zab Judah.
"Amir always said how much he loved America and when he invited me to the Judah fight in 2011 I saw exactly what he meant.
"The American people are very welcoming and love people with ambition. The boxing is much harder here in comparison to the UK but like Amir said, if you stay focused you can reach great heights and for me it worked getting signed by Roy Jones Jr, an American superstar just like Amir Khan signing with Oscar De La Hoya," said Batista.
Batista, who is a Brit of Pakistani decent like Khan, said that while Khan has his share of his detractors, most of his fellow Brits are supportive.
"In the UK most people love Amir. Of course you have that small portion of people who hate him and it's jealousy and nothing more. Amir is the face of British boxing and has done very well winning multiple world titles. There is always envy against people living their dreams and that's all Amir is doing, living his dream he should not be crucified for doing that," Batista told BoxingScene.com.
Batista plans on making his pro debut in 2015.
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