‘Wonder Boy’ eyes gold in Beijing

LONDON — British teenager Amir Khan has been offered a $3.6 Million contract by a syndicate of wealthy boxing aficionados to resist the temptation of turning pro and focus on capturing the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.

Khan, 17, receives an allowance of $36,000 a year from the British sports ministry as an amateur. If the syndicate known as The Real Fight Club withdraws its offer, Khan is likely to turn pro because there wouldn’t be a more attractive alternative.

But Khan, who was born in England to Pakistan migrants, said he’s determined to go for gold in Beijing. He fell a win short of hitting paydirt in Athens and settled for the silver, losing a 30-22 decision to Cuban veteran Mario Kindelan in the lightweight finals. There was a ton of pressure on Khan to produce results in Athens as England’s only boxing qualifier. To provide moral support, his family flew to the Greek capital. Father Sajaad, 43, mother Falak, 39, sister Tabinda, 18, brother Haroon, 13, and sister Mariyah, 7, were at ringside as Khan disposed of Marios Kaperonis of Greece, Dimitar Stilianov of Bulgaria, Baik Jong Sub of Korea and Serik Yeleuov of Kazakhstan before bowing to Kindelan.

Last May, the Cuban master technician gave Khan a taste of what was to come in Athens when he pounded out a 33-13 verdict at the Acropolis Cup, a pre-Olympic tournament. Kindelan, 33, is in a class of his own. He won the gold at the 2000 Sydney Games and took the world championship in Bangkok last year. Not even Khan at his best could outclass the Cuban stylist who announced his retirement after collecting his second Olympic gold medal with an overall record of 308-22. Stephen Bierley of the Guardian said Khan, not Kindelan, took Athens by storm with his dazzling skills and punching power. "Opponents have been befuddled by the cobra-like quality of his movement, his ruthless exploitation of the slightest gap in a defense and the maddening agility with which he avoids retaliation," wrote Bierley.

Former World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Naseem Hamed, an Englishman of Yemen descent, phoned Khan before the finals to wish the teenager luck. Khan once said he admires Hamed although he has claimed no great liking for the flamboyant fighter.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Hamed, who is virtually retired, attempts to lure Khan to join his stable.

English boxing promoter Frank Warren said Khan could be a world champion in four years if he turns pro now. "To me, at 17, Khan looks a better fighter than Oscar de la Hoya did at that age," said Warren. "Certainly he can earn a lot of money. By the age of 21, he can have more than $1.8 Million in the bank. Khan should turn pro. He’s fighting men now, he’s beating them so why shouldn’t he turn pro? There are pro fighters now whom I think he can beat. If he turns pro, I think he cold win the world title at a young age, no doubt about that."

Khan began to box when he was eight–his father’s age when he arrived in England from Pakistan. British amateur boxing officials initially refused to allow Khan to participate in the Olympic qualifiers because of his age. When Khan threatened to represent Pakistan–where International Amateur Boxing Association president Anwar Chowdry is from–instead, the British authorities relented. The minimum age limit for amateur boxing is 11.

Khan’s father operates a car scrapyard and the family lives in a $360,000 semi-detached home in Heaton, a suburb of Bolton. The Khans are devout Muslims. The youthful fighter received three years of religious instruction at the Noorul Islam Mosque. "My goal is the next Olympics and a gold medal for Britain," declared Khan, a second year sports education student at Bolton Community College. "Kindelan told me I’d win the next gold medal and be the next world champion. I want to stay amateur and I’ll be more mature and stronger next time around. I’m just happy to have got to the final. I’ve got so many years left and these two weeks have been a great experience."

Khan will take a two-month vacation from the ring to catch up on his studies and finish his driving lessons.

Terry Edwards, the 61-year-old British boxing coach who took Audley Harrison to the superheavyweight gold medal in Sydney, said Khan’s potential is unlimited. "I have seen Amir mature from a boy into a man," noted Edwards. "How good he can be I don’t know. He’s awesome now and I don’t even know how good he will be by the time he gets to 19–never mind after that."

Although he’s only 17, Khan is already spoken for and betrothed. His parents chose a 17-year-old native of Rawalpindi as the future bride. Arranged marriages are common among close families in Pakistan. British Asians comprise only 9 percent of Bolton’s population of 260,000. Khan’s cousin Sajid Mahmood is also from Bolton and plays for the English cricket team. Khan’s father brushed aside comments from racists that his son isn’t English despite the honor he has reaped for the United Kingdom. "Amir was born in England, raised in England and went to school in England," he said. "How much more English do you need to be?"

In a commentary on Khan’s emergence as a sports icon, writer Lawrence Donegan said: "That old Olympic shibboleth about the healing power of sport has been parroted to within an inch of its useful life … but to watch Khan fight–to see his family, as well as his country, celebrate his brilliance and his Britishness, to read the growing mountain of newspaper cuttings that chart his course from an 8-year-old dragged to a boxing gym into an articulate, level-headed young man who has turned into a genuine multi-cultural hero–is to know the racists and bigots will never succeed in fomenting the divided society they seem desperate to create."

Such is the impact of sports on society.