"I could feel that my love for the sport just wasn't there"
After announcing his retirement from boxing, Amir Khan has admitted that his “love for the sport” has gone.
The 35-year-old announced the news on Twitter as he walked away from the sport.
Khan retired three months after his TKO loss to arch-rival Kell Brook in February 2022.
In his retirement announcement, which came just over a week after Brook’s retirement, Khan said:
“It’s time to hang up my gloves.
“I feel blessed to have had such an amazing career that has spanned over 27 years.
“I want to say a heartfelt thanks and to the incredible teams I have worked with and to my family, friends and fans for the love and support they have shown me.”
Amir Khan had been considering retirement even before his fight against Brook.
Khan said: “Even before the last fight against Kell, my family were saying I should call it a day, and that I’d done everything I wanted to.
“I’d fought all around the world, against the biggest names in boxing, achieved many world titles.
“And it was in the back of my mind even before taking the last fight.
“But after it, I could feel that my love for the sport just wasn’t there anymore, and I decided I was going to call it a day but didn’t know when to announce it.
“That was a part of me that still wanted to do boxing and be part of it, but I just had to announce it.”
Khan became an Olympic silver medallist at 17 and became world champion at 22.
He leaves boxing with a record of 34-6 and looking back on his career, Khan said:
“I’ve had a brilliant career. My family told me a long time ago to retire, but I said: ‘No, I want to do a bit more’.
“It’s just hard to walk away from the sport. But I think it’s the right time to walk away now.”
“Boxing has been brilliant for me. I thank all the fans, my trainers and coaches, my boxing family. It’s all I’ve known and it’s been wonderful.
“Since coming out of the Olympic Games at the age of 17, boxing changed my life and gave me a great platform.”
Loading ...