Amir Khan racism issue?

[The Law]

I am British and I'm 'Asian'. I respect Amir's boxing skills but he comes across as an obnoxious idiot during interviews. He clearly isn't great at PR and desperately needs PR training. His 'hangers on' do not help matters either. I dislike Amir as a person but I respect him as a fighter.

I remember inviting him to meet Muhammad Ali at Windsor castle a few years ago and he is not as bad when the camera is not pointing at him but the majority of his 'hangers on' are a bunch of fools.

[BAD INTENTIONS]

How could anyone disagree with anyone who says that Muslims are being treated unfairly?

[Taansend]

Explain why Naseem Hamed was so popular then?

Edited by mod

I actually think that Naz is part of the reason why Khan is disliked (by some).

Obviously some people dislike Amir before of his ethnicity. That's just a fact of life. Same as him being Muslim & todays' current issues with people of that faith.

Some people dislike him because he's chinny. Same as Maccarinelli gets stick. Personally I think this is more reason to like them. You can't help being chinny. It takes so much courage getting in the ring knowing that you have soft whiskers.

And some will dislike him because he's a Northerner. Froch Groves II was in London.

But I've spoken to people who didn't like him & the reason was he reminded them of Naz. A brown Northern Muslim boxer. Naz was very much a Marmite character & a lot of those who hated Naz hate Khan just because.....

[Taansend]

Oh yeah, and his habit of talking about fighting Mayweather or Pacquiao when he has another fight coming up is really annoying. Focus on the fight in hand, mate.

[Badhusker]

If Khan rarely spoke to the media and learned to keep his big stupid mouth shut, he would have respect world-wide, regardless of his race. He brings it on himself, and deserves everything he gets, good and bad. He is not the brightest candle on the cake.

You have to do more than tell the world over and over and over you are an elite fighter that deserves the top fights...you have to prove you belong there. He has not done that yet.

[reggaereggae]

I'm not saying race and religion are totally irrelevant in sports or the world; but many of the best paid and most popular Brit boxers were non-White. Sports fans seem to be attracted to success and personality above anything else (oh and nationality.)

Some notes:

Lennox Lewis - made more money than anyone in UK boxing, even though he boxed in Olympics for Canada , was black, didn't realky live in UK since he was a nipper and had a trans Atlantic accent. He was also bloody good so that helps, I reliase that.

Benn, Eubank - most well known Brit boxers in last 20 years and polar opposites.

Naseem Hamed - ok there was a love hate aspect, but his cocky style and personality wouldve split people even if he looked like Billy Schwer

Joe Calzaghe - most successful and talented Brit in 20 years, good looking... Yet didn't make headlines or big money til the end.

Frank Bruno - best loved boxer since Henry Cooper. Black. And so far the public favourite vs Joe Bugner (white). I have never met a single person who wanted Bugner over Bruno.

Billy Schwer - blond, blue eyed, world class, good looking.... Yet never got much attention. Nor did Hodkinson, MCrory, nor did the very decent Dave Macauley. All white.

Conclusion - race / religion is a factor, but not the biggest in terms of who to support

[SenorPipino]

If Amir Con isn't revered in Britain, maybe it's because the Brits are smart enough to recognize an arrogant jerk masquerading as a title contender.
Too big a mouth and---his greatest sin--- not a great deal of fistic substance.
He would be reviled in any country regardless of his ethnicity. You don't need to be racist to hate Con. It's a natural thing.

[Broomhall]

When Khan turned over his fan base in the uk, and exposure following the Olympics was massive. I think British fans generally look at personality rather than race or colour-I say generally because obviously there are racists in Britain who will use social media. Bruno was loved by British fans, Lewis not so much-personality I think, more than race/colour

There have been white fighters who were not particularly liked-Minter maybe, whereas the less successful Dave Boy Green was very popular.

I think Khan just doesnt seem to comes over well and for whatever reason, I dont think it is race. I think that is more of an issue in the USA tbh.

[Lenny Cravats]

You could write a very similar report on Chris Eubank. Particularly about driving - he did kill a bloke.

[keirw]

You could write a very similar report on Chris Eubank. Particularly about driving - he did kill a bloke.

I don't recall Eubank being particularly popular during his fighting days either, to be honest.
Everyone I knew wanted Benn to smash him.
What Eubank seems to have, now, is a begruding respect for a successful career and the ability (and sheer toughness) to back up his words, so most people can now tolerate his bizarre antics.
Again, nothing to do with skin colour.

[cc79]

I'm English and a boxing fan and I love Amir Khan. Mainly because he's enjoyable to watch and is generally in exciting fights. The same reason I love Carl Froch. Whilst Khan has in the past come across as arrogant, over confident and cocky - these are all character traits most boxers display (Floyd as much as anyone - and in a far more spiteful, distasteful way than Khan).

What you can't argue with is that Khan has been good for boxing: he's fought anybody who's challenged him (I believe Bradley ducked him not the other way around), a good example being when he went to Lamont Peterson's hometown as the champion (he didn't have to do this) but showed he's a true fighter. You could argue he didn't have to give Danny Garcia a shot when he was virtually unknown, but he did.

And whilst most would argue he hasn't 'earned' a shot at Floyd, I struggle to think of any other fighter that would cause Floyd the problems that Khan could. Which is in itself reason to want the fight to happen........Whether you like Khan or hate him

[Badhusker]

I'm English and a boxing fan and I love Amir Khan. Mainly because he's enjoyable to watch and is generally in exciting fights. The same reason I love Carl Froch. Whilst Khan has in the past come across as arrogant, over confident and cocky - these are all character traits most boxers display (Floyd as much as anyone - and in a far more spiteful, distasteful way than Khan).

What you can't argue with is that Khan has been good for boxing: he's fought anybody who's challenged him (I believe Bradley ducked him not the other way around), a good example being when he went to Lamont Peterson's hometown as the champion (he didn't have to do this) but showed he's a true fighter. You could argue he didn't have to give Danny Garcia a shot when he was virtually unknown, but he did.

And whilst most would argue he hasn't 'earned' a shot at Floyd, I struggle to think of any other fighter that would cause Floyd the problems that Khan could. Which is in itself reason to want the fight to happen........Whether you like Khan or hate him

No, he isn't and no, he hasn't. Thurman, Porter, and Brook would all love to fight Khan and have said so. Thurman even offered to go fight in England. Khan turned down Alexander last year because he wasn't sure if he could beat him. He also turned down $5 million to fight Brook. He refused to give Maidana a rematch, and wants nothing to do with Matthysse either. It is true that a lot of boxers are arrogant. What bothers me most is those that don't have anything to base it on, or very little. Guys like Khan thinks he deserves a shot at Floyd based on his recent fights, which is a joke. Even if he beats Alexander, he should have to also beat at least Porter to earn a title shot. So far he has one good win at welter that has not had a meaningful win in at least 4 years.

[cc79]

I'm English and a boxing fan and I love Amir Khan. Mainly because he's enjoyable to watch and is generally in exciting fights. The same reason I love Carl Froch. Whilst Khan has in the past come across as arrogant, over confident and cocky - these are all character traits most boxers display (Floyd as much as anyone - and in a far more spiteful, distasteful way than Khan).

What you can't argue with is that Khan has been good for boxing: he's fought anybody who's challenged him (I believe Bradley ducked him not the other way around), a good example being when he went to Lamont Peterson's hometown as the champion (he didn't have to do this) but showed he's a true fighter. You could argue he didn't have to give Danny Garcia a shot when he was virtually unknown, but he did.

And whilst most would argue he hasn't 'earned' a shot at Floyd, I struggle to think of any other fighter that would cause Floyd the problems that Khan could. Which is in itself reason to want the fight to happen........Whether you like Khan or hate him

No, he isn't and no, he hasn't. Thurman, Porter, and Brook would all love to fight Khan and have said so. Thurman even offered to go fight in England. Khan turned down Alexander last year because he wasn't sure if he could beat him. He also turned down $5 million to fight Brook. He refused to give Maidana a rematch, and wants nothing to do with Matthysse either. It is true that a lot of boxers are arrogant. What bothers me most is those that don't have anything to base it on, or very little. Guys like Khan thinks he deserves a shot at Floyd based on his recent fights, which is a joke. Even if he beats Alexander, he should have to also beat at least Porter to earn a title shot. So far he has one good win at welter that has not had a meaningful win in at least 4 years.

Yes, valid point re; turning down the Alexander fight last year - I'll give you that (although in Amir's defence by all accounts someone had led him to believe he had the Floyd fight in the bag and you can understand him not wanting to risk missing out on that). If we're honest, Brook hadn't beaten anybody of note until he beat Porter so for Khan to fight him didn't make sense (although I'd love to see the fight now) and the same goes for Thurman now - I'm not falling for the Thurman hype machine just yet.

My point is Khan is generally fun to watch because he throws fast combinations but is also susceptible to being caught which makes him enthralling to watch. I also feel we need to stop focussing on who has 'earned' the right to fight Floyd and think more about who will present Floyd with a different challenge to the ones he's faced in the past - and Khan brings some different skills to the table than what we typically see of Floyd opponents. You could argue, Matthysse, Porter, Brook, Garcia are all more deserving of a fight with Floyd but we all know they have no chance of troubling him. They're no different to the likes of Guerrero, Maidana, Canelo and the outcome would be the same and the fights would pan out in the same way. Khan I genuinely believe would be a more exciting opponent.

Of course this will all be irrelevant if Alexander sparks khan out......

[Badhusker]

One big difference between the other guys that fought Floyd is that they were at least established at the weight beating some top contenders and had a title. Khan has been artificially put near the top in the WBC at least, but has no title. Even beating Alexander won't help there.

As far as Thurman being hype? I admit he is still not at the top yet, but did stop a common opponent that Khan went life and death with. Guerrero, Maidana, JMM, etc all turned down Thurman when asked to fight, among others. Too high of a risk vs reward I guess. He would have made a good stepping stone for Khan.

[man]

To be completely honest, I think the cause of this is the fact that he is an Asian boxer.

nonsense. boxing fans are rarely real racists. yes, they
flirt here and there with the idea, but nothing more.

amir khan raised big hopes and failed to deliver. he sat
himself next to manny and floyd before he was even close
to deserving being mentioned in one sentence with them.
and when he turned out to be "just" a top fifteen boxer, this
was disappointing big time.

nothing more to it IMHO.

His career isn't yet over so we still don't know what he is capable of.

he is no floyd, he is no manny. that is pretty settled.
having said that, nothing to be ashamed of, since
these are p4p ATGs ...

[BAD INTENTIONS]

To be honest, how can someone be a hard-core boxing fan and a racist? They’re mutually-exclusive concepts due to the cosmopolitan nature of the sport itself.

What?

Can you please explain this logic in further detail?

[evrenb]

Britain is very tolerant of all cultures ; that is plain to see. There are of course always silly idiots. There is racism against colour and creed in all walks of life. Boxing is one cross section of life I guess.
Frank Bruno is probably the most loved boxer of the last 40 years ; he was not white. He was loved by whites and every other ethnic British backround.

Also to note is the travelling community also get awful treatment and abuse by on line keyboard warriors.
Would Khan be more popular if he were white? That is a difficult question. I think it comes down to the personality rather than the colour that endears fighters to the British Public.

Bruno, Benn, Eubank, Lewis, Calzaghe, Hamed were all from ethnic backrounds but immensely popular due to their ability and charisma.

In regards to Khan; he was a media darling at the Olympics and was treasured. He was still from an ethnic backround then. So what has changed?. I think his personality since hasn't overly endeared him to the British Public (racists aside).
The situation in the middle east and current huge immigration argument going on probably doesn't help at the moment (with anglo saxon british)

I do believe tho, and I can speak first hand, that ethnic Brits are almost always more loyal to their ethnic backround, rather than their British home. I know this for a fact though I know many wouldn't be as honest to admit this. It is true though.

Evrenb

[Roars Like Me]

Can you imagine the abuse Hamed would get if he was around now. Twitter wasn't around in his day after all. I mean abuse in the generall sense and not in the racist sense of the word . He transcended race due to the fact that he was such a bellend that that alone took centre stage, great boxer though.

[evrenb]

To be honest, how can someone be a hard-core boxing fan and a racist? They’re mutually-exclusive concepts due to the cosmopolitan nature of the sport itself.

What?

Can you please explain this logic in further detail?

The statement is self-explanatory.

Boxing is a multicultural sport, where the fighters are from a wide variety of social backgrounds, ethnicities, religions etc.

A racist person would be unable to objectively recognise or appreciate a fighter’s abilities or accomplishments without their prejudice unduly influencing their opinions for or against their particular ethnic group(s).

A “hard-core” boxing fan is as the name implies… extremely fanatical about the sport itself... and you can't really be classed as a "hard core" boxing fan if your ignorance prevents you from being able to watch or enjoy fights involving certain fighters.

Well said

[Karl Jade]

Thankfully there are already ample replies in this thread showing the race assertion to be utter nonsense.

Honestly, what compels folk to come out with such guff?

[BAD INTENTIONS]

So there aren't any racist hardcore fans ... damn, the logic of the small minded. There are tons of hardcore boxing fans who are racists. Do you have to be objective to be a hardcore fan? Hell no. The sad thing is that you use such shoddy logic and feel justified.

Why does it bother some people so much that racism still exists on a large scale? In fact, you guys seem more bothered by discussing it than actually doing something to end it.

[Lenny Cravats]

You can't be racist and a hardcore boxing fan? Jesus. This is whole new levels of stupid. I mean, WTF are you thinking?

[lefty]

So there aren't any racist hardcore fans ... damn, the logic of the small minded. There are tons of hardcore boxing fans who are racists. Do you have to be objective to be a hardcore fan? Hell no. The sad thing is that you use such shoddy logic and feel justified.

You can't be racist and a hardcore boxing fan? Jesus. This is whole new levels of stupid. I mean, WTF are you thinking?

Would a racist person go out of their way to way to regularly watch fights between two combatants representing particular ethnic groups that they despise?

Do you believe that it is correct to class an individual as a legitimate hard-core boxing fan, even though they may refuse to watch, support or objectively appraise a collective group of fighters based on race, religion, nationality etc., rather than genuine sporting reasons?

Racist people are ignorant. Such ignorance automatically disqualifies any person holding such extreme beliefs from being considered as genuine fans of the sport of boxing… because they are ignorant and automatically become oblivious to those pugilists’ efforts and accomplishments gained inside the ring!

Lol to be fair though, you could enjoy watching the art of boxing on display without caring for the combatants engaged in it.

[Lenny Cravats]

So there aren't any racist hardcore fans ... damn, the logic of the small minded. There are tons of hardcore boxing fans who are racists. Do you have to be objective to be a hardcore fan? Hell no. The sad thing is that you use such shoddy logic and feel justified.

You can't be racist and a hardcore boxing fan? Jesus. This is whole new levels of stupid. I mean, WTF are you thinking?

Would a racist person go out of their way to way to regularly watch fights between two combatants representing particular ethnic groups that they despise?

Do you believe that it is correct to class an individual as a legitimate hard-core boxing fan, even though they may refuse to watch, support or objectively appraise a collective group of fighters based on race, religion, nationality etc., rather than genuine sporting reasons?

Racist people are ignorant. Such ignorance automatically disqualifies any person holding such extreme beliefs from being considered as genuine fans of the sport of boxing… because they are ignorant and automatically become oblivious to those pugilists’ efforts and accomplishments gained inside the ring!

Are hardcore dog-fighters animal enthusiasts? Did Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom listen to Miles Davis?
Following a sport and having an extreme sociopolitical opinion are two entirely separate things.

[diddy]

Khan is a foreignor to white Brits. There are alot of bigots in the UK. Not sure why this would come as some sort of a surprise to you? As an athlete of celebrity stature, ridicule comes with the territory. Some people are idiots. Let him embrace it and motivate him.

Go on the Instagram of EVERY prominent athlete, they all face some sort of hate from someone for something. Jon Jones. Danny Garcia. Etc etc Who cares?