By Ian S. Palmer
Most professional boxers prefer to do their fighting in the ring simply because they get paid for it. However, once in a while they might be tempted to show off their skills in the street, especially if somebody’s trying to steal their $160,000 car. This was the case in England recently when former WBA and IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KOs) and his brother Haroon, who’s a top amateur boxer, took on half a dozen thugs on the streets of Birmingham, England’s second largest city.
The Khan brothers laid a beating on the would-be thieves and protected Amir’s Range rover, but their father Shah Khan told the British press that he wasn’t too happy with his sons. Khan Sr. said he told the boys that it takes a bigger man to walk away from an altercation and they should have let the thugs have the car since it’s insured anyway. He added that it was a silly incident, but those things happen because there are a lot of silly people out there.
The problem started when the criminals used a four x four vehicle to block Khan’s route. The brothers were returning home from a concert and had reportedly stopped at a lounge just before the brawl broke out. Amir Khan, who also won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens at the age of 17, got out of his car and was hit in the face. An eyewitness said the 25-year-old then knocked his assailant out cold and he and Haroon then took on the other five punks.
Photo: Getty Images
The fight took place just a couple of days before Khan attended a press conference in London to announce his upcoming bout against Carlos Molina on Dec. 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Khan is on the road back after losing his WBA title to WBC champion Danny Garcia in Las Vegas in July. Khan stared the bout well, but was stopped in the fourth round.
His 20-year-old brother Haroon is a former bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Games and is scheduled to make his debut as a professional in January. After the incident he posted to his Twitter account and said some guys tried to rob him and Amir, but they didn’t get far. The local West Midlands police force confirmed they were called at 1.23 am on Oct 8 regarding a street fight, but it was over by the time officers arrived and no arrests were made.
When Amir arrived at the press conference to announce his fight with Molina he said he was fine and his hands didn’t suffer any damage. However, he and his brother still took a huge risk and were lucky the six thugs weren’t armed at the time of the incident. Still, most boxing fans are glad that he and Haroon stood up and fought for his property while laying a beating on street vermin at the same time.
