Amir Khan has explained that his problem with Hamzah Sheeraz is due to the 23-year-old talking behind his back.
Sheeraz is undefeated in his professional campaign, which has played out over 17 fights with the last two being middleweight contests. With 13 knockouts, the young man from Slough is a highly-touted prospect.
Khan needs no introduction. He’s one of the most well-known British fighters of all time, having competed professionally from 2005 to 2022 after winning an Olympic silver medal.
The Bolton man hung up the gloves earlier this year after a loss to Kell Brook, however it seems he still has one foot in the sport in the form of a feud with Sheeraz. He told Boxing Social he felt disrespected.
“I’ve been there. I’ve done things on a different level. I’ve won world titles. When you’ve got a kid who just disrespects you – whatever you do, whatever you say – talks s**t behind your back. I’m not into all that. I’m here to support all the young fighters. Every fighter, being Asian especially. But for an Asian fighter to talk s**t about you all the time, and I’m like ‘wait a minute, why you talking s**t about me for?'”
Khan went on to say that the relationship is frosty with Sheeraz even despite his uncle, Taz Khan, working with the young fighter.
“I’m always supporting our Asian brothers, and there’s one out of all of them. It’s sad to see that. Even thought my uncle works with him now. I don’t know, man. I’m a bit confused. You know what, I’ve opened so many doors for them. My uncle had no clue about boxing, I’m the one who got him to America, got him to meet the likes of Freddie Roach, and the respect he’s got in boxing is cause of me. But these people forget that.”
Finally, the former unified super-lightweight world champion said that, despite his retirement, he would confront the young fighter should he feel it necessary.
“I just feel sad. That’s the sad part about boxing. When you retire from the sport of boxing, you see the people who are with you and who are not with you, and the people then start talking s**t. As soon as I said ‘I’m retired’ people like these Hamzah Sheeraz’ come out the woodwork and started talking s**t. I’m like who the f**k are you? Bro, I’m still a… I’m not retired from everything in life – I will stick it on you if I have to.”
The details of why there’s bad blood are murky, but regardless, fans will hope that differences can be settled and that the British legend can continue to support up and coming fighters without exception.