Khan, Salita Tell The Media To Leave Religion Out of It
By Mark Vester
WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan and his challenger Dmitry Salita came face to face in Newcastle and London to officially announce their December 5 championship clash. A lot of the media is still stuck on the fact that Khan is a proud Muslim, and Salita is a very devoted orthodox Jew. Both boxers want the media to keep their focus the fight and not the religious beliefs of the fighters.
"Amir is an excellent boxer with a great amateur pedigree," Salita told The Telegraph. "I have respect for Amir inside the ring and outside the ring, 100%. This is what we have been doing since we've been kids. In the ring it doesn't make any difference who you are, what you are. It's just two guys punching each other. The media shouldn't make something out of this that it's not. If anything, it's a positive event, where two people from different backgrounds come together."
Khan had a lot of good things to say about Salita. He said religion has nothing to do with the fight.
"He's a nice guy. Boxing is a sport and we respect each other. It's a fight I wanted as much as Salita wanted. Going into this fight there's only one thing on my mind – to win the fight, regardless of the religion," Khan said.
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