Amir Khan (boxer)

Early career

He made his professional debut against David Bailey in July 2005. The fight drew an audience of 4.4 million viewers, which was ITV's best Saturday night viewing figures of the month.^[22] By 2006, his fights were averaging between 6 million and 7 million viewers on ITV.^[23]

On 2 February 2008, Khan was scheduled to fight Martin Kristjansen, but illness forced the Dane to withdraw and instead Khan beat Australian Gary St Clair in a contest for the Commonwealth lightweight title at the ExCel Arena in London. This was his first fight to last all 12 rounds and was won via a unanimous 120–108 scoring from all three ringside judges.

On 5 April 2008, Khan beat Kristjansen in the seventh round of a WBO lightweight title eliminator. Before the contest, the fighters had been ranked third and fourth respectively by the WBO. After Khan's victory, he was ranked second, behind only Joel Casamayor.

Following the fight, Khan split from his trainer Oliver Harrison, the trainer for all of his previous 17 professional contests. The break-up was blamed on Harrison's concerns that Khan's public engagements were interfering with his fight preparations.^[24] Khan's spokesman told reporters there was "nothing personal" between Khan and Harrison.^[25] Dean Powell, who has trained former world champions Duke McKenzie and Lloyd Honeyghan, worked with Khan until a decision on a permanent trainer was made. In the same month, Khan had a training session in Las Vegas with Roger Mayweather, trainer and uncle of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.^[24]

Khan fought on 21 June 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Irishman Michael Gomez. Gomez, a super featherweight champion who was reaching the end of his career and had lost the last one of his six fights, was described as a "backward step" in Khan's quest for a world title.^[26] Khan stated "I think I'm above this level now" and made it clear that he expected a fast and explosive finish. Khan knocked Gomez down twice in the fight and went on to earn a stoppage victory. After the fight, Khan said he felt he had moved up a level by "fighting a good fighters like Gomez".^[27] Khan received criticism for being knocked down in the second round, but proved his resilience by coming back stronger aftwerwards. Former boxing champion Barry McGuigan seemed unimpressed after the fight and said Khan needed at least two more fights before he should consider a world title bout.

A month after the Gomez fight, it was announced that Jorge Rubio would become Khan's new trainer. Rubio was chosen because Khan thought that he had very good chemistry with the Cuban trainer. Khan said, "Rubio was showing me all these new training techniques, and I felt so comfortable because it suited my style. I knew I had the hand speed and the footwork to do it and I knew it was going to make me a much better fighter".

Khan vs. Prescott, Fagan

In early August, the lightweight Breidis Prescott was chosen by Rubio as Khan's next opponent. Rubio had trained a fighter who had narrowly lost to Prescott before and thought that Khan would be able to handle the bigger Prescott, who had a prolific knock-out record of 17 KOs in 19 contests. Khan was a huge favourite and was hoping to win a world title by the end of the year. The fight took place at the Manchester Evening News Arena and was Khan's Sky Box Office debut. In the first round, Prescott came out fast and landed some good shots; a stiff jab jerked Khan's head back and foreshadowed what was to come. Prescott landed a left hook that jabbed Khan's temple, dizzying his senses. Instead of holding, Khan tried to punch back, but was hit to the head by a left hook, right hook combination that sent him crashing to the canvas. Although Khan managed to return to his feet, Prescott forced the stoppage with another left that put Khan down again. The bout was officially called off at 55 seconds. ^[28]

Following his defeat to Prescott, Frank Warren sacked Khan's trainer Jorge Rubio and replaced him with Freddie Roach. Khan began training with Roach in the United States, where he sparred with then WBC lightweight champion and pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao, who is also trained by Roach. On 6 December 2008, Khan recorded a comeback win against Oisin Fagan with a second-round stoppage; Khan won the vacant WBA International lightweight title. Khan knocked Fagan down twice in the first round and Fagan's corner threw in the towel in the second, after he was knocked down again.

Khan vs. Barrera

In early 2009, it was announced that Khan would fight former seven-time and three-weight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera on 14 March, at the Manchester Evening News Arena.^[29] Frank Warren promoted Khan's fight against the veteran Barrera, perhaps Khan's highest-profile opponent to date. Barrera was ranked No. 1 and Khan No. 5 in the WBO world lightweight rankings. Previous IBF and WBO lightweight title holder Nate Campbell was stripped of the belts after moving up to the light welterweight division and Khan's promoter Frank Warren and Barrera's promoter Don King lobbied the WBO to elevate the Khan-Barrera fight to a world lightweight title eliminator.^[30] However, the world-title status was instead given to the fight between Juan Manuel Márquez and Juan Diaz, ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively by the WBO.^[31]

On 14 March 2009, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, Khan defeated Barrera, by a technical decision. The fight was stopped towards the end of the fifth round due to Barrera suffering a cut in the first round, which resulted from a clash of heads. With Barrera deemed in no position to fight on by the ringside doctor, the fight then went to the scorecards, on all three of which Khan was ahead (50–44, 50–45, 50–45). With victory, Khan defended his WBA International lightweight title and also won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title.

Frank Warren was sufficiently impressed with Khan's performance to vow to land a world title fight for him before the end of the year.

There was a lot on his shoulders, but I always felt he could rise to the big occasion. I'd like to see him get a belt round his waist by the end of this year.^[32]

Khan also commented on the fight, saying:

I felt so completely easy, catching him with jabs. I felt like I was on a better level than him. The jabbing and patience – I felt so strong. You could see the difference. I had to take some shots in that match. I made some mistakes in the past and I'm not going to make them again.^[32]

Khan vs. Kotelnik, Salita

It was announced on April 8, 2009 that Khan would move up to the light welterweight division to fight Andreas Kotelnik (31-2-1, 13 KOs) at the MEN Arena in Manchester for the WBA light welterweight title on 18 July. Khan Said, "This is the best news that I could have received. To fight for the world title in only my 22nd fight and at the age of just 22 is fantastic. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out win it." This would be Kotelnik's fourth title defence.^[33] Khan won by unanimous decision, 120–108, 118–111, 118–111, in front of 10,000, and became the third-youngest Brit to win a world title, at the age of 22.^[34] Khan used his hand speed and fitness to go well ahead on points in the first ten rounds. Kotelnik rallied in the closing rounds but could not land a decisive punch on Khan in spite of his best efforts. After the fight, Khan said, "It's the best feeling ever. I want to thank Freddie Roach and my team for making this happen. I'm a world champion and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm still young and I've got big things to come."^[35][36]

On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA light welterweight title against undefeated Ukrainian American boxer Dmitry Salita (30-0-1, 16 KOs), the mandatory challenger, on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.^[37] Due to Khan being a practising Muslim and Salita being an Orthodox Jew, the fight was hyped as a religious clash by the media, referring to it as a "battle of faiths" or "holy war", though Khan and Salita both denied such claims.^[38][39] On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated Salita in 76 seconds, winning by TKO in the first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time just 10 seconds into the fight. It was the first loss of Salita's career.^[40][41]

On 17 January 2010, Khan announced he had split with British promoter Frank Warren and signed a deal with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, which resulted in Khan's fights moving back to ITV.^[42]

Khan vs. Malignaggi, Maidana

Khan (left) and Malignaggi at the press conference on 17 March 2010.

On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that Khan and former light welterweight world champion Paulie Malignaggi would hold a press conference in London to announce their world title bout set for 15 May at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.^[43][44] This was Khan's first bout in the United States and the second defence of his WBA light welterweight title. In front of a crowd of 4,412, in a one-sided fight, Khan retained his title after referee Steve Smoger halted the fight at 1:25 of round 11. In the aftermath Malignaggi admitted he lost to the better man, saying, "I've fought two elite fighters, Miguel Cotto and Amir Khan. From here, I'm not sure where I go. I'll sit down with my team. I don't want to be a punching bag." Khan showed his speed, power and combinations throughout the fight and proved to be too much for Malignaggi.^[45][46]

Immediately after the fight, Khan stated he wanted to fight Marcos Maidana next, and that he would not be leaving the light welterweight division until he had unified the various belts, suggesting that the way to do this would be for him to fight Maidana, and then go on to face the winner of a Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley match.^[47]

Maidana (29-1, 27 KOs), after failing to challenge undefeated WBO junior welterwight champion Timothy Bradley, postponed the fight to June 19 due to a back injury.^[48] On 3 May, Maidana pulled out of the fight again, still citing his back as the problem. The fight had already been rescheduled from 19 June to 17 July, and Bradley went on to fight Luis Carlos Abregu on 17 July, instead of Maidana.^[49] After failing to secure the fight with Bradley, Maidana's camp announced that he would fight former-WBO junior welterweight champ DeMarcus Corley, on 28 August 2010 at the Luna Park Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Maidana went on to go and win by unanimous decision.^[50] Khan continued to look for a suitable opponent to challenge next for his title. One of his possible opponents was Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez decided not to move up in weight and stayed at lightweight. Maidana then stated his intention to fight Khan: "Stop looking for possible opponents for next Khan 11 December in England. Stop looking for lightweight boxers and face the real 140-pounders. I'll go to Khan's home soil to take the other portion of the WBA title that belongs to me."^[51] The fight was confirmed on 16 September to take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 11 December. Khan was reported to earn at least $1.5 million compared to Maidana who had a purse of $550,000.^[52]

Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against Maidana. Khan knocked Maidana down with a combination of 2 body shots in the first round. Maidana was saved by the bell but regained composure and continued to battle on. Khan dominated the scoring until tiring around round 7. Maidana rallied and midway through round 10 stunned Khan with a heavy right hand. Maidana landed a series of follow up uppercuts and rights Khan remained on his feet. Khan then rallied to win rounds 11 and 12 to solidify a unanimous points decision. The scores were 114-111, 114-111, 113-112. Khan was open to a rematch. Khan landed 273 of 603 punches thrown (45%) and Maidana landed 156 of 767 thrown (20%).^[53] The fight was awarded Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.^[54]

Khan vs. McCloskey, Judah

On 4 February 2011, Khan announced a deal had been signed to defend his WBA title against Irish boxer and European champion Paul McCloskey in his next fight, who was unbeaten in 22 fights and was ranked world number 10. The fight was scheduled to take place at the Manchester Evening News Arena on 6 April.^[55][56] Khan won a sixth-round technical decision after Paul McCloskey was cut by an unintentional head-butt and could not go on in the estimation of the ring doctor.^[57] The heads of Khan and McCloskey collided about two minutes into the sixth round, causing a bad cut on the inside of McCloskey's left eyebrow. Another tactical few rounds followed, with Khan the main aggressor. In the decisive sixth, a five-punch combination from Khan staggered McCloskey and moments later the pair went toe-to-toe before McCloskey wheeled away and noticed blood coming from around his left eye. Khan had some trouble with the awkward and resilient southpaw, who was difficult to hit cleanly, but he was both too quick and too busy for McCloskey, winning all six rounds on all three cards.^[58][59] Frank Warren stated that the fight's Primetime pay-per-view sold four times^[60] as many buys as the network's previous record holder, Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler, which sold 50,000 buys,^[61] thus the Khan–McCloskey fight sold about 200,000 buys. The fight was shown in the US on HBO where it averaged 1.2 million viewers.^[62]

On 31 May 2011, Khan agreed to fight 33 year old two-weight champion Zab Judah (41-6, 28 KOs) in attempt to unify the IBF and WBA light welterweight titles in Las Vegas on 23 July. Judah had reclaimed the IBF title two months earlier against Kaizer Mabuza. Khan was unhappy that a fight with Bradley could not be made. He said, "Bradley was the guy I wanted to fight but he chickened out. I offered him 50% of UK revenue, which is unheard of, and 50% of all revenue in America, that's how much I wanted to fight him, but he didn't want it." The fight was broadcast on Primetime in UK and HBO in USA.^[63][64] Khan started the fight with a left jab. Round 1 saw a busy Amir Khan as he fought from the outside and kept Judah away with jabs and straights. All four rounds were taken by Khan. Ultimately on the fifth round Zab was taken down with a right uppercut to the body, in which at first commentators believed it was a low blow, since Judah was showing signs of agonising pain, but when it was seen from a different camera angle, it was right on the belt, leading to an 18th knockout for Khan in his career so far. Khan later rejected claims for the low blow saying, "He went down. It was above the belt. Zab's a great fighter. I respect him a lot. But it was nowhere near below [the belt]. It was a great shot."^[65] Over 5 rounds, Khan landed 61 of 284 total punches (21%) and Judah landed 20 of 115 (17%).^[66][67][68] For the fight, Khan earned $1,072,500 and Judah had a $500,000 purse.^[69] The fight averaged 1.4 million viewers on HBO,^[62] peaking at 1.417 million viewers.^[70]

Khan vs. Peterson

In August 2011, Khan began chasing a big money fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. possibly for 2012. Mayweather Promotions boxer Jessie Vargas (16-0, 9 KOs) began calling out Khan for a potential fight. Speaking to Fighthype.com, Mayweather said, "Jessie Vargas wants to know why Amir Khan is ducking and dodging. He's asking for him. Everybody is ducking and dodging him. He's my fighter and he wants [Khan]."^[71] Speaking on a radio show, Vargas said, "He keeps saying he wants to fight Floyd. If he really wants to fight Floyd then he has to fight me first."^[72] In respect to Vargas, Khan hit back stating, "Never heard of Jessie Vargas until Floyd Mayweather mentioned that I have to fight him. He looks good, yes, but only has 16 fights. He's a prospect and I'm a unified world champion. If Jessie Vargas fights and gets past Marcos Maidana - then I'll fight him. Like Floyd said - 'you have to earn it.'^[73]

In September 2011, it was announced that Khan would defend his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles in Washington DC on 10 December against Lamont Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KOs) at the Convention Center.^[74] In front of a near sell out crowd of 8,647, Peterson defeated Khan for the by split decision in a very controversial affair. Khan was docked 2 points in rounds 7 and 12 by the referee Joe Cooper for pushing, although illegal pushing is not usually met with such harsh consequences, the HBO team picked up on this. Peterson was dropped to the canvas twice, although the first time was counted as a slip instead of a legitimate knockdown. Both fighters boxed well and two judges scored it 113–112 to Peterson, with the other 115–110 to Khan (originally announced as 114–111 to Khan). Some observers felt it was a hometown robbery as Peterson is from Washington DC, while many felt that Khan wasn't treated fairly.^[75]

ESPN's Dan Rafael score the fight 114-111 in favour of Khan. HBO's unofficial scorer, Harold Lederman, scored it 113-112, also for Khan. After the fight Khan said, "It was like I was against two people, the referee and Lamont himself. I was the cleaner fighter; he was so wild. The referee wasn't giving me a chance. I heard the referee give me a warning [for pushing], but there was nothing I could do. He kept coming in with his head. There hasn't been [HBO] boxing in D.C. for the last [18] years because this is what happens." Khan earned a base purse of $1.1 million, while Peterson earned a career-high $650,000 purse.^[76]

A rematch was due to take place on 19 May.^[77] It was later found that Peterson had tested positive for PEDs and was stripped of the WBA title. He admitted to the use of steroids shortly after. Khan was then reinstated as the WBA champion.^[78]

Khan vs. García

On 23 May 2012, ESPN announced that Khan would next fight against the undefeated American Danny García for the WBC title. At the pre-fight press conference on 4 June, Khan and García's fathers got into a heated exchange resulting in both fighters promising to knock the other out on 14 July. Khan also stated his desire to move up to the 147 lbs division if successful against García, for potential bouts with high-profile boxers like Floyd Mayweather and Timothy Bradley, although Bradley has previously rejected a fight with Khan in order for a fight against Manny Pacquiao. At the time the fight was announced, WBC were unsure whether to sanction the fight, as García had a mandatory defence due against Ajose Olusegun. The fight was scheduled to take place on 14 July 2012, in Las Vegas.^[79]

Khan entered the García fight as a heavy favourite and through the first two rounds and most of the third he outlanded García while García was finding the range. However, the tide turned against Khan very late in the third round as García was able to land a hard counterpunch off a missed right. Khan hit the canvas and suddenly had to fight to stay alive as García's punch to the neck and jaw badly hurt him. Only the bell saved Khan from a second knockdown and García kept pressing early in round four, forcing Khan to take a second standing eight count after he touched the canvas with his glove. Khan regrouped and was temporarily able to go back at García, but with less than a minute left in the round Khan was dropped a third time. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight despite Khan assuring him he could continue, deciding enough was enough. After the fight, Khan said, "It wasn't my night. I was coming in with my hands down and Danny took advantage of that. He countered very well against me." According to CompuBox stats, Khan landed 92 of 206 punches thrown (45%), with 46 jabs and 46 power shots landed. García landed 65 of his 216 thrown (30%), 60 of which were power shots.^[80][81][82] Khan earned $950,000, while García had a $520,000 purse. Nevada State Athletic Commission announced the fight generated a total gate of $426,152 from 3,147 tickets sold.^[83] The fight averaged 1.3 million viewers on HBO World Championship Boxing.^[62]

Khan vs. Molina

A week after Khan joined with new trainer Virgil Hunter it was announced that he would make his comeback fight against undefeated American Carlos Molina (17–0, 7 KOs). The fight was aired on Showtime, on 15 December 2012, and took place in the LA Sports Arena in California.^[84] Khan defeated Molina by TKO in the tenth round and won the WBC Silver light welterweight title. Khan pushed Molina onto the back foot and landed a sharp right hand that cut Molina over the left eye. Khan was stiffened by a right hook in the second before steadying the ship and resuming control of the contest. Molina's cut deteriorating badly and taking plenty of punishment. Referee Jack Reiss suggested his corner pull him out at the end of the ninth, however Molina was sent out for more, despite it being abundantly clear that he did not have the tools to do Khan much damage. Khan started to let his hands go more in round 10, after which his corner finally decided it had seen enough.^[85][86][87] Khan landed 312 of 679 punches thrown (46%), an equal amount of jabs and power shots were landed. Molina was less busier, landing 87 of 335 (26%).^[88]

After defeating Molina, American boxer Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO) became the front-runner to fight Khan next in April 2013. It was said that Lopez would be returning to the welterweight after being beaten at light middleweight by Canelo Álvarez.^[89]

Khan vs. Diaz, Collazo

Following his victory over Molina, Khan returned to the UK, for a fight against 33 year old Julio Díaz (40-7-1, 29 KOs) on 27 April 2013 in a 143 lbs 'catch-weight' bout. The fight took place at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield.^[90][91] Khan was able to control some of the fight and managed to survive a fourth-round knockdown from Diaz. Khan managed to hold on throughout the fight to go onto win the fight by a fairly close unanimous decision. The scorecards; Phil Edwards 114–113 – Steve Gray 115–113 – Terry O'Connor 115–112. In the aftermath, Khan praised Díaz, He caught me while I was off balance, and I couldn't get my stance back. I went down. I kept moving to recompose myself. That's what happens. There are little things to work on when we go back in the gym." Khan stated the fight could be his last in the UK.^[92][93]

Despite interest in a bout with Khan, Floyd Mayweather announced that he would fight 30 year old Marcos Maidana (35–3, 31 KOs) on 3 May 2014. On 24 March, Khan decided to fight 32 year old former champion Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KOs) on the undercard at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.^[94] Prior to the fight, Collazo han't lost since October 2011.^[95] The fight was for the vacant WBA International welterweight title and WBA title eliminator as well as Vacant WBC Silver title. Khan was too fast and too disciplined for Collazo, flooring him in the fourth round and twice in the 10th. The judges scored the fight 117-106, 119-104, 119-104 in Khan's favour.^[96] Khan and Collazo both incurred point deductions in round 8. Collazo hit Khan with a low blow while Khan was holding his head down. Collazo's failed approach resulted in a mismatch on the scorecards. Collazo fought with his hands down most of the night, unafraid of Khan, believing Khan had no power and he would eventually knock him out. In the post fight interview in the ring after the bout, Khan credited his 12 months of boxing training with Virgil Hunter for his success. Khan's purse for the fight was $1.5m while Collazo earned $350,000.^[97][98]

Khan vs. Alexander

On 13 August 2014, Khan stated that he was in talks to fight either Devon Alexander or Robert Guerrero, possibly in the UK by the end of the year.^[99] On 21 October, one year after pulling out of the fight, it was announced that Khan would fight former two-weight world champion Alexander (26-2, 14 KOs). The fight took place on 13 December at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Showtime in the US and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.^{[100][101][102]} In front of 7,768 in attendance, Khan produced a dominant performance to secure a unanimous points victory over Alexander. All three judges scored heavily in Khan's favour, 119–109, 118–110 and 120–108 ESPN's Dan Rafael scored it a 120-108 shutout for Khan. Alexander followed Khan around the ring throughout but was unable to land more than one punch at a time as Khan met him in his tracks with hard combinations.^[103] After his victory Khan reiterated his desire to fight American Floyd Mayweather. Promoter Oscar De La Hoya said, "So now I know why Mayweather doesn't want to fight him. He was brilliant. I wouldn't have fought him. He is hitting his peak just now. He looked incredible." Khan outlanded Alexander 243 to 91, according to CompuBox, and connected on 43 percentage of his shots, compared to just 20 percent for Alexander. Khan earned $950,000 and Alexander was paid $600,000 for the fight.^{[104][105][106]} The fight averaged 762,000 and peaked 887,000 viewers.^[107]

Khan vs. Algieri

After Khan himself initially announced the fight on his wife's YouTube channel on 3 April, a welterweight bout against former WBO super lightweight champion Chris Algieri (20-1, 8 KOs) was later finalized to take to place on 29 May 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.^[108][109] Khan won the bout by unanimous decision, winning on all three judges scorecards (115–113, 117–111 and 117–111).^[110] Khan counterpunched effectively from the outside after being surprised with Algieri's aggression majority of rounds in a fairly close contest. Algieri fought a far better fight than he did against Manny Pacquiao, throwing more punches and landing some power shots. Khan landed 218 of 609 punches thrown (36%), while Algieri landed on 199 of 703 (28%), most of which were in the opening six rounds. Following the victory, Khan was now 5-0 against New York opponents. He again called out Mayweather saying, "I think everybody knows Amir Khan wants to fight Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather is a champion, so let's make it happen." Khan made $1.5 million and Algieri earned a $500,000 purse.^[111][112] The fight, which took place on Spike, averaged 1 million viewers and peaked at 1.2 million.^[113]

Khan vs. Álvarez

In early 2016, it was announced that Khan is moving up two weight divisions to middleweight, to fight Saul "Canelo" Álvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) for his lineal, Ring and WBC middleweight championship titles. The fight took place on 7 May 2016, at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.^[114][115] The bout was on HBO PPV.^[116][117] Golden Boy Promotions expected the fight to bring in 2 million PPV buys. Álvarez was likely to be getting a career payday against Khan because this is a fight that will almost surely bring in more PPV buys on HBO than Canelo's last fight against Miguel Cotto last November. That fight brought in 900,000 PPV buys on HBO.^[118] Khan eventually lost to Álvarez by way of knockout in Round 6. Although many believe Khan was ahead on points including ESPN, two of the ringside judges had Álvarez ahead after five round (49-46 & 48-47), the third judge had Khan ahead (48-47).^[119] With the scorecards heading towards a split decision halfway through the fight, Khan admitted, "it may have been a blessing being knocked out in the 6th round, rather than an upset loss on the scorecards after 12 rounds.^[120] According to CompuBox, Álvarez landed 64 of 170 (38 percent) and Khan landed 48 of 166 punches (29 percent), though only one of their shots really mattered.^[121]

The fight generated a live gate of $7,417,350, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That total came from 13,072 tickets sold, far short of a sellout. The Álvarez-Khan gross places it 34th-best in Nevada history.^[122] On pay-per-view, the fight sold around 600,000 PPV buys and grossed more than $30 million. This made it one of the biggest recent PPV fights, behind Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Álvarez, and surpassing Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III and Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto.^[123]

Khan vs. Lo Greco

On 10 January 2018, during a live press conference in London, Khan signed a three-fight deal with Eddie Hearn at Matchroom Sport. The deal meant Khan would fight exclusively on Sky Sports, with his return bout in the UK taking place on 21 April at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.^{[137][138][139]} on 29 January, Canadian boxer Phil Lo Greco (28-3, 17 KOs) was announced as his opponent.^[140] At the official press conference on 30 January, a brawl broke out after Lo Greco said, "After the Canelo loss you went on a losing streak - family, wife and then you go out and tweet to the heavyweight champion of the world. What is wrong with you, mate?" Referring to Khan's personal life. Khan responded by throwing his glass full of water towards Lo Greco. The bout was fought at a catchweight of 150 pounds, as requested by Lo Greco's team.^[141][142] On 17 March, it was reported that Khan's trainer Virgil Hunter had been hospitalised due to a health scare, however was recovering well.^[143] Khan later revealed he would train with Joe Goosen for the fight.^[144][145] On 2 April, ESPN confirmed they would pick up the bout on their new app ESPN+, a $4.99 per month subscription streaming service, launching on 12 April.^[146] It was the main event of the first boxing event to stream live on the ESPN+ service.^[147]

Khan knocked Lo Greco out in 39 seconds of round 1, setting a new record for himself. The first knockdown occurred after just 15 seconds when Khan landed a right hand to the head. Lo Greco appeared hurt, but managed to beat the 10 count. When the action resumed, Khan quickly moved on Lo Greco, putting him against the ropes with a flurry of punches until he dropped once more. Referee Victor Loughlin called a halt to the fight immediately.^[148][149] After the fight, rival Kell Brook, who was on pundit duty, entered the ring and the two boxers traded words. Khan said, "The weight is an issue with Kell, I'm a 147lb fighter. I will fight and beat Kell Brook and the world knows it. Brook's been living off my name for a long time. I came and signed with Matchroom, I'm the one chasing Kell." Khan then left the ring.^[150] During the post-fight press conference, Khan named a number of top welterweights including Thurman and Spence, but stated he would like to bring Adrien Broner over to the UK for a big fight.^[151]

Khan vs. Vargas

Promoter Eddie Hearn announced Khan's next fight would be in either August or September. According to Hearn, the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham was a potential venue.^[152] At an official press conference on 28 June, it was announced that Khan would return to Arena Birmingham, for the first time since 2008, against Colombian boxer Samuel Vargas (29-3-2, 14 KOs), who has been a five-fight unbeaten run since November 2016. The fight is scheduled to take place on 8 September 2018, live on Sky Sports. Speaking on the fight, Khan said, "One of my aims this year was to be as active as possible, so I'm very happy to get back in the ring again so soon against Samuel Vargas. Vargas is a tough and well-schooled fighter, who has shared the ring with some top welterweights including Danny Garcia and Errol Spence Jr." Local stars including Sam Eggington and Gamal Yafai were also announced for the undercard.^{[153][154][155]} Vargas weighed 146 pounds. At first attempt Khan weighed 147.2 pounds. He then took off his socks and weighed 147.1 pounds. Khan then took off his shorts, stripping completely naked and made the 147 pound limit.^[156][157]

Khan won the fight by unanimous decision, scoring 119-108, 119-109 and 118-110.^[158] Khan knocked Vargas twice in the fight in dropping him in round 2 and 3. Vargas dropped Khan once in round 2. Khan fought well in round 5 in landing a lot of fast combinations to the head of Vargas, who suffered a nose injury. Vargas took the punishment and showed a lot of heart as he kept coming forward. Midway through the fight, Khan began to slow down and showed fatigue. He began to pick his combinations rather than just throw a flurry. Vargas focused mostly on the body attack for the fight. He managed to have Khan in trouble as he pinned him against the ropes, most notably in rounds 6 and 10.^[159] After the fight, Khan said, "I really wanted to go the distance. It's been three years since I went 12 rounds. There were a couple of times when I could have stopped him and I kind of stepped off him." Khan called for a fight against former sparring partner Manny Pacquiao and Hearn said it was 'now or never' for a Kell Brook fight.^[160][161] According to CompuBox stats, Khan landed 199 punches of 581 thrown (35%) and Vargas was credited with landing142 of his 535 thrown (27%). Vargas landed 100 shots to Khan's body, 91 being power punches.^[162]

Eddie Hearn announced that the fight set a viewership record, for the biggest live audience on UK subscription television in boxing history.^[163]

Amir Khan Foundation

Khan founded his own charity organisation, Amir Khan Foundation, with which he is involved in a number of charitable projects. The Water Wells project provides water wells in drought-stricken regions across Asia and Africa. Other projects include an orphanage in The Gambia, the #OrphanAID project in partnership with the Shilpa Shetty Foundation, providing aid in Syria in partnership with Islamic Relief, providing aid for Syrian refugees in Greece, and work with Barnardo's children's charity in Britain.^[198]

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

On 12 November 2017, Khan arrived in Brisbane, Australia. It was later confirmed that he would be a contestant on the seventeenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, which has been airing on ITV since 19 November 2017.^[201][202] International Business Times revealed Khan was the highest-paid contestant in the history of the show, beating the previous record held by Katie Price, when she appeared for a second time on the show in 2009. Price reportedly earned £400,000. It was said that Khan would be paid 'a little more'. Campmates are paid between £25,000 to £250,000 for appearing on the show.^[203][204] On 8 December 2017, Khan was the seventh person to be eliminated from the show, coming in 5th place overall. The episode which featured Khan's elimination aired in the UK on his 31st birthday.^[205] He revealed he would donate part of his earnings to Barnado's, who he is an ambassador for.^[206]

The show's ratings averaged between 8 million and 10 million viewers every day for two weeks in the United Kingdom.^[207] The show peaked at 12.69 million viewers for the first episode, while the final episode drew 10.68 million viewers.^[208]

Pay-per-view bouts