“I thought we were going to die on the spot.”
Amir Khan has admitted that he feared he would die during his armed robbery ordeal, leaving his children to grow up without him.
In April 2022, the boxer was robbed of his £70,000 watch at gunpoint after he, his wife Faryal and friend Omar Khalid left a restaurant in East London.
Two men have since pleaded guilty to the robbery.
Opening up about the ordeal, father-of-three Amir said:
“In that moment, you think the worst… that the kids could be growing up without their dad, that Faryal would be raising them on her own.
“Your life flashes before your eyes.
“I leaned my head to the right because I thought, if he is going to shoot me, he can shoot the side of my head. I don’t want to see the bullet coming.”
Faryal said she feared the couple were the target of an organised robbery, saying:
“I thought we were going to die on the spot.”
Recalling the ordeal, Amir said: “It was the first time I’ve ever seen a gun in my life. I could see down the barrel.
“I remember looking back seeing where my wife was. She ran back on the road and screamed ‘help!’
“At the time, I didn’t know what he wanted. I thought maybe this is a prank. I just took off the watch, he grabbed it.
“Faryal ran back onto the road and I just froze.
“Normally she walks in front of me so I know she’s safe.
“But for some reason she didn’t that night – which looking back is a good thing.
“The gunman told me to take off the watch so I did and he grabbed it. I was shaken up.
“It happened so fast, it registered with me a day after. It makes you think, life is very short.
“People said after, ‘You should’ve fought them’. Are they stupid? I’ve got a family. It’s only a watch. My life means more to me.
“When you have kids, you have a priority to make sure they are looked after. I am the breadwinner for the family.
“If I was with the kids, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Maybe I would have panicked and tried to run.
“Someone called the police. It caused a big scene and people recognised me.
“I felt quite embarrassed it had happened to me, that I’d just been robbed at gunpoint.
“I got into Omar’s car and we drove around the corner because I didn’t want to be around the area.”
“I did a 30-minute interview in the police car. I told them what happened, how it happened.”
Since the gunpoint robbery, Amir Khan spends £600 a day on security in the UK.
He and Faryal admitted that they now feel the UK “isn’t a safe place” anymore, therefore they spend more time at their Dubai home.
Amir Khan told The Sun: “The UK isn’t a safe place any more.
“It’s like living in Mexico. I don’t feel comfortable. I love England. I won a medal for the country but I stay in Dubai now because it’s the only place I feel safe. I’ve had my career, won my fights, got money. I just want to be safe.”
Despite the terrible ordeal, Faryal says it brought her and Amir closer.
She said: “It hit me that I could’ve lost Amir.
“It makes you appreciate each other a lot more. He’s the love of my life, my husband, the father of my children.
“If I lost him, I don’t think I could ever recover from that.”
Meanwhile, Amir Khan is now preparing to enter the all-stars edition of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
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