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Amir Khan raises £80,000 for Africa.
http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/A...011-09-19.html
Amir Khan is no stranger to charity work and he kindly donated some of his precious items at the "Islamic Help" - Horn Of Africa Drought Crisis charity dinner last night he helped raise over £80,000. The event was held at the glamorous central London Hilton. After a gradual flow of guests were seated Amir Khan was made his sophisticated and humble entrance. He first listened to some Islamic songs and heard a speech from one the main speakers Kamran Fazil who has recently been working directly in Somalia.
It was Kamran's first time in Somalia and he told me that they were initially distributing food packs in other needy areas however during Ramadan Somalia came into the news therefore the attention was focused towards there and they were able to use the media attention with regard to the drought and start sending food packs sent there and start the fundraising. He also said that big events like these are not normal after ramadan however with the support of Team Khan they were able to produce such this lavish event with entertainment and a three course meal and keep that awareness in people as this crisis is not just going to turn into another direction when Ramadan was over and people still wanted to pledge. He also informed me that they are in the process of building water tanks for other villages and plans to set up an acute malnutrition centre and a medical clinic.
Amir Khan's gloves were auctioned and raised £7,500 and he there was a single Reebok t-shirt and a Judah v Khan signed framed poster, which raised further funds.
I interviewed Amir Khan after the event he was relaxed and sincerely enjoyed the night.
S.C - "Hi Amir tell us about one of your first roles in charity work?
A.K - "I'm not a stranger to charity work and I'm fortunate to be in this position and if I could use my status in a positive way and make sure if I give something others might see me giving something to charity and follow me in my footsteps and I want to use it in the right way."
S.C - "Now with this event it's very similar to the event you held in Bolton in January where you raised over £100,000 pounds, how do you aim to raise awareness people suffering in Africa right now?
A.K - "A lot of people are suffering in African and West. Africa that's where a lot of people are affected they've got no food, no clothing, no homes to live in a lot of them have disease flying around there are lot of people need treatment so today we raised money for that really so people can live a healthy and safe life, like I said every pound that we get is going to generate a good thing and there's a lot of good people out there who were digging deep in their pockets and were showing their support and I want to thank the 800 people and It was a great turnout and I want to say thank you.
S.C - "Apart from this event going on in London across that waters in Vegas Mayweather has finally pushed himself forward, what do you think will happen with this fight against Ortiz and what ambitions do you have to further your career in the next year or so?
A.K - "It's going to be a good fight because Mayweather is a great fighter and Victor Ortiz is a good fighter and both fighters fight well and it's going to be a tough one for both of them, Mayweather has been out for a year and he's going to have ring rust and everything whereas Victor Ortiz has been quite active and he's a good win and won the WBC title his first title and he's more comfortable at this weight and I think he's a stronger puncher but Mayweather is the most skillful and the most wisest and better fighter and he's got the speed as well. I give it Mayweather, I'm going towards Mayweather he's got experience at this level more, I mean Victor's good but I really think that he has just that bit less experience and he's not in the same league as Mayweather maybe in the future he may be but at the moment it's too early for him and I give the fight to Mayweather maybe by a late stoppage.
S.C -"You told us that you want o retire at the age of 28, are you worried about any injury that you may get after this age or is it for the reason that you would like to pursue something different, modeling, an ambassador for something that you feel strongly about, marriage perhaps, television presenting or to continue your charity work perhaps?
A.K - " You know what I've always said around 28 I want to retire and the reason is I want to finish on the top and I want to achieve everything in boxing and I want to leave the sport the way I walked in, you know a lot of fighters walk out the sport injured and I don't want to make that mistake and I want to stay focused and I want to enjoy my boxing career and it's a hobby to me and I love it and hopefully when I do retire I want to get into promotion with youngsters out there hopefully I have a boxing gym where a lot youngsters come there and maybe I can have the next Amir Khan coming out of the gym and maybe doing commentary work and a lot more charity work definitely, I will have more time on my hands to do more charity work, you know this is only a little bit I'm doing I'm trying to do my best there and try and do more but due to my boxing commitments it's quite less.
S.C - " Lastly people admire you as a great personality regardless of your boxing everywhere in the world, what kind of advice can you give young people about life and pursuing what they are good at?"
A.K. - "You know the advice that I can give to young people is you should work hard towards their dreams and anything is achievable in life and if you work hard you can achieve your dreams you know keep working hard towards your ambition, you know that's what I've been doing since I've been a young kid and I always had that ambition for me to wake up in the morning for me to become a world champion and be the best fighter in the world and I was slowly getting there and I still dream of that, I want to be the best fighter in the world so and I want young kids to follow my footsteps doing positive things in life, stay off the streets and getting to the gyms, they've got the 2012 Olympics this year, focus on that and that's what their ambition should be and be part of the Olympics and represent our country so hopefully they can stay off the streets and it can be anything to stay focused and listen to their parents and behave."
After the interview Amir Khan went on to commentate on Primetime about the Mayweather v Ortiz fight. Islamic Help, the sponsors and Amir Khan want to thank everyone that attended and pledged funds to the charity appeal. Check out www.islamichelp.org.uk for details on how to pledge and about further work that they will be carrying out in Africa.
Amir Khan is no stranger to charity work and he kindly donated some of his precious items at the "Islamic Help" - Horn Of Africa Drought Crisis charity dinner last night he helped raise over £80,000. The event was held at the glamorous central London Hilton. After a gradual flow of guests were seated Amir Khan was made his sophisticated and humble entrance. He first listened to some Islamic songs and heard a speech from one the main speakers Kamran Fazil who has recently been working directly in Somalia.
It was Kamran's first time in Somalia and he told me that they were initially distributing food packs in other needy areas however during Ramadan Somalia came into the news therefore the attention was focused towards there and they were able to use the media attention with regard to the drought and start sending food packs sent there and start the fundraising. He also said that big events like these are not normal after ramadan however with the support of Team Khan they were able to produce such this lavish event with entertainment and a three course meal and keep that awareness in people as this crisis is not just going to turn into another direction when Ramadan was over and people still wanted to pledge. He also informed me that they are in the process of building water tanks for other villages and plans to set up an acute malnutrition centre and a medical clinic.
Amir Khan's gloves were auctioned and raised £7,500 and he there was a single Reebok t-shirt and a Judah v Khan signed framed poster, which raised further funds.
I interviewed Amir Khan after the event he was relaxed and sincerely enjoyed the night.
S.C - "Hi Amir tell us about one of your first roles in charity work?
A.K - "I'm not a stranger to charity work and I'm fortunate to be in this position and if I could use my status in a positive way and make sure if I give something others might see me giving something to charity and follow me in my footsteps and I want to use it in the right way."
S.C - "Now with this event it's very similar to the event you held in Bolton in January where you raised over £100,000 pounds, how do you aim to raise awareness people suffering in Africa right now?
A.K - "A lot of people are suffering in African and West. Africa that's where a lot of people are affected they've got no food, no clothing, no homes to live in a lot of them have disease flying around there are lot of people need treatment so today we raised money for that really so people can live a healthy and safe life, like I said every pound that we get is going to generate a good thing and there's a lot of good people out there who were digging deep in their pockets and were showing their support and I want to thank the 800 people and It was a great turnout and I want to say thank you.
S.C - "Apart from this event going on in London across that waters in Vegas Mayweather has finally pushed himself forward, what do you think will happen with this fight against Ortiz and what ambitions do you have to further your career in the next year or so?
A.K - "It's going to be a good fight because Mayweather is a great fighter and Victor Ortiz is a good fighter and both fighters fight well and it's going to be a tough one for both of them, Mayweather has been out for a year and he's going to have ring rust and everything whereas Victor Ortiz has been quite active and he's a good win and won the WBC title his first title and he's more comfortable at this weight and I think he's a stronger puncher but Mayweather is the most skillful and the most wisest and better fighter and he's got the speed as well. I give it Mayweather, I'm going towards Mayweather he's got experience at this level more, I mean Victor's good but I really think that he has just that bit less experience and he's not in the same league as Mayweather maybe in the future he may be but at the moment it's too early for him and I give the fight to Mayweather maybe by a late stoppage.
S.C -"You told us that you want o retire at the age of 28, are you worried about any injury that you may get after this age or is it for the reason that you would like to pursue something different, modeling, an ambassador for something that you feel strongly about, marriage perhaps, television presenting or to continue your charity work perhaps?
A.K - " You know what I've always said around 28 I want to retire and the reason is I want to finish on the top and I want to achieve everything in boxing and I want to leave the sport the way I walked in, you know a lot of fighters walk out the sport injured and I don't want to make that mistake and I want to stay focused and I want to enjoy my boxing career and it's a hobby to me and I love it and hopefully when I do retire I want to get into promotion with youngsters out there hopefully I have a boxing gym where a lot youngsters come there and maybe I can have the next Amir Khan coming out of the gym and maybe doing commentary work and a lot more charity work definitely, I will have more time on my hands to do more charity work, you know this is only a little bit I'm doing I'm trying to do my best there and try and do more but due to my boxing commitments it's quite less.
S.C - " Lastly people admire you as a great personality regardless of your boxing everywhere in the world, what kind of advice can you give young people about life and pursuing what they are good at?"
A.K. - "You know the advice that I can give to young people is you should work hard towards their dreams and anything is achievable in life and if you work hard you can achieve your dreams you know keep working hard towards your ambition, you know that's what I've been doing since I've been a young kid and I always had that ambition for me to wake up in the morning for me to become a world champion and be the best fighter in the world and I was slowly getting there and I still dream of that, I want to be the best fighter in the world so and I want young kids to follow my footsteps doing positive things in life, stay off the streets and getting to the gyms, they've got the 2012 Olympics this year, focus on that and that's what their ambition should be and be part of the Olympics and represent our country so hopefully they can stay off the streets and it can be anything to stay focused and listen to their parents and behave."
After the interview Amir Khan went on to commentate on Primetime about the Mayweather v Ortiz fight. Islamic Help, the sponsors and Amir Khan want to thank everyone that attended and pledged funds to the charity appeal. Check out www.islamichelp.org.uk for details on how to pledge and about further work that they will be carrying out in Africa.
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