Former world champion Amir Khan says boxers earning massive sums of money need help to deal with their success.
Khan made the statement in a recent interview with Gary Neville, where he also discussed his charity work and other subjects.
One of the UK’s most famous boxers in the 2000s, Khan, was forever in the firing line outside the ring.
The Rise of Amir Khan
Earning vast purses for world title fights, TV, and endorsement deals, the Bolton man went off the rails often before and after meeting his wife, Faryal.
The 35-year-old would be the first to admit he made a lot of mistakes, one of which was accusing fellow boxer Anthony Joshua of sleeping with the New Yorker.
His career hit the heights when he cracked the United States, winning bouts against Zab Judah and Marcos Maidana. The latter earned Khan the WBN Fighter of the Year trophy for 2010.
The massive success came from a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. Khan chose to represent Great Britain over Pakistan after being born in England.
Only a teenager, Khan was known as a squeaky clean, nice guy in his early boxing years.
However, having all UK eyes on him for his achievements as the only boxer from the country at the Athens Olympics, problems soon started once the money rolled in.
“I’ve never seen a psychologist, not during my boxing career or now,” said Khan, speaking on The Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet
That’s one thing about boxing. The boxers make a lot of money, but we don’t have the system that footballers have.
“We don’t have psychologists. We don’t have nutritionists, and we have nothing.”
Boxers go mad
He continued: “In a boxing gym, they should have one. They don’t have that – that’s why a lot of fighters go mad.
“After their career, they’re left alone – no one talks about them. With many of these other fighters who were not really that big of a name, people forget about them – they go mad.
“They’ve had money. Then the money gets taken off them. When you’re in a routine your whole life. Then you stop that routine, you think, ‘what do I need to do?’
“This is when you need help mentally, someone to talk to you. You need someone to tell you how to move forward, someone to help you on the business side as well.
“There’s no one to help you in boxing – you’re on your own.”
Charity work
Discussing his charity work, Khan uses that focus of knowing he helps others to keep him in a healthy state of mind.
“I opened The Amir Khan Academy about ten years ago as I wanted to give something back to the community.
“I wanted to give back because of what boxing did for me. It’s opened a lot of doors. It’s given me a good life.
“I’ve done this for a lot of kids, and you won’t believe it, but Tyson Fury started off his boxing career here as well, and his cousin did.
“So, they used to train out here, in our gym, because we had amateurs train there as well. Now we have Joe Gallagher, Paul Smith, and Stephen Smith.
“So, they all train over here. It’s amazing, I mean, what the gym’s done for us – giving something back to Bolton. That’s what I wanted to do.”
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