Ricky Hatton Rivalry Led To Amir Khan Hate, Says Warren
By Mark Vester
Recently, WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan spoke about the possibility of leaving Britain for the United States. He says the daily hate he receives, from British fans and British fighters like Carl Froch, is pushing him to leave the country he loves. Khan's promoter Frank Warren says the growing rivalry with countyrman Ricky Hatton is a possible reason for Khan's issues with the British boxing public.
“There have been some boos, but I think that could be to do with the Hatton thing. We’ve been popular wherever we have been with him. Ticket sales have been good in Newcastle, we have sold 7,000 of the 10,000 tickets already," Warren told The Times Online. “We’ve always tried to play down the hype surrounding Amir and when people were talking about world titles, I was saying he had to learn."
Warren takes the blame for some bad matchmaking when it comes to the subject of pitting Khan against Breidis Prescott. He blew Khan away in less than a minute in September 08.
"The Prescott fight was just a bad match, I shouldn’t have made it, but the trainer wanted it and the connections wanted it. It was a big mistake. But how he has come back to win a world title eight months and three fights later is exceptional. That sort of thing hasn’t been done by a British boxer and people forget how few fights [22] he has had in his career,” Warren said.
Khan has been reunited with Freddie Roach, his American coach, this week after Roach missed the first few weeks of Khan’s training camp in Los Angeles as he was training Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines. Warren believes the United States move, made after the Prescott loss, has been a huge benefit for Khan.
Khan defends his title against unbeaten Dmitriy Salita on December 5. Warren predicts a Khan win by knockout.
“It’s a tough defence and I think it will make for an exciting fight,” Warren said. “But I fancy Amir to knock him out.”
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingvester@gmail.com