Speaking exclusively to Prime Casino, Amir Khan hints at a secret clause in Mike Tyson’s contract, casts his verdict on the up-coming ‘I’m a Celeb’ and says he’s in negotiations for an exhibition with Manny Pacquiao.
- Amir Khan hints at ‘dangerous’ clause in Mike Tyson’s contract - the longer he lasts the more he’s paid
- Coleen Rooney will outlast Rebekah Vardy in the jungle
- The jungle would have been the perfect ‘detox’ for Tommy Fury
- Manny Pacquiao negotiations are real
What’s your advice to Barry McGuigan entering the jungle?
I think it’s going to be brilliant for Barry. He’s a very charming guy. He speaks well. He gets on with people. He’s a caring man. People know him as a fighter. I think people are going to have the utmost respect for him when they see what a gentleman he is. I like Barry. I think he’s a nice guy. He’s never one of those ex-fighters that talks rubbish or talks down on people. He’s always a respectful man. I think he’s going to be a big hit in the jungle.
It’s about being yourself. You’re going to be amongst a lot of fake people there who are trying to make themselves look better and make you look bad. That’s one thing I realised every time I was in the jungle. I’ve been there twice, people who are in there they’ve got a game plan. If Barry goes in there without a game plan and be’s himself that’s what people want. People want the real you. But other celebrities I see that go in there, they go in with a game plan and the public like to see a normal person who is like everyone else.
It just depends who he’s in there with, but yeah, he’s got the characteristics to go in there and win it, definitely. He’s a nice guy and it’s good that lately there’s been a lot of boxers who have gone in there and I think he’s one of the good guys, one of the funnier guys with more humour so I’m glad they’ve picked someone like Barry.
Will Coleen Rooney last longer than your camp-mate Rebekah Vardy?
Rebekah Vardy was in there with me but you know what I like Coleen Rooney. I think she’s quite a simple person. I think she’ll last a lot longer than probably Rebekah Vardy did when she was in there with me. The reason I say that is that, coming from a financially very strong situation, also having a husband who is a big renowned football player, I think she will be one of the top contestants there because she is what you see. She’s very simple. My wife has said the same thing. She’s a very simple girl and there are going to be a lot of people out there who will want to see how she’s going to be in there, and I think she’s going to be brilliant.
She should last longer than Rebekah, 100%. I like Rebekah Vardy. She’s a friend of mine now. But when I was first in there she was very hard on a lot of the other people in there participating. Even at times with me she’d say silly things that I didn’t like at the time but with Coleen I don’t think she’s like that. She doesn’t really have that cheekiness or is that type of person that likes to put someone down a bit.
Who’d win in a boxing match? RV vs CR?
If Rebekah and Coleen had a fight in boxing I’d have to go with Rebekah Vardy. Honestly, she is a tough tough cookie. She’s strong, she’s tough — I think she’s physically stronger by looking at her. She’s one of these types of women, having met her, she’s very confident. I think she’d win against Coleen if they ever boxed.
Have you heard the longer Mike Tyson lasts the more he gets paid?
I have heard that before. They’re basically saying they want to see more rounds, more entertainment, so they’re going to put that in the contract so that way, if it’s for the money that these guys are doing it for, which I assume it is, they’re going to stay in there for as long as possible. Every round might be $1 million or more. So really, even if he’s taken a beating, and that makes it even worse for your health. You know then you’re going to take a beating just to stay in there to collect the paycheck. It does make boxing a deadly sport, and a dangerous sport, when they throw clauses like that in there because you know then you have to survive just to make more money basically.
Look, both fighters can bang. We know that. God forbid Mike gets hit with a massive shot and knows he’s hurt, or he gets cut, or Jake gets cut, he’s going to survive in there. He’s going to think fuck that, I’m going to survive in here and make another million. To make a million outside the ring is very hard so fuck it, I’ll stay another three minutes in the ring, take a couple more punches, I’ll be alright. It’s worth it.
My message to Mike Tyson is we all love Mike Tyson. He’s a friend of mine as well. He is always going to be remembered as a great. We all think that Mike is going to go into the ring and go for the knockout, and he might get the knockout as well, but he has to be smart in there and focused, because we want to see Mike go in there, tear him apart, and walk out in one piece.
Would you jump in to face Jake Paul next if Mike Tyson beats him?
You know what, the thing is there is a lot of weight advantage and to be honest with you, Mike is a friend of mine and I FaceTime him and we speak, but when you’ve got a 65-year-old man fighting a young, at-his-peak fighter you do feel sorry — but you can’t feel too sorry for Mike Tyson because he’s taken that chance. It’s a tough one that is but I wouldn’t want to jump in the ring. At the end of the day it’s Mike’s decision to go in the ring and fight. If he gets beat you want to protect your friend and jump in and say I’ll give a beating for him, so if he beats Mike Tyson yeah definitely I’d like to give him a little slap and sort him out.
Will it affect Mike Tyson’s legacy if he’s beaten by a Youtuber?
That’s why there’s a lot of pressure on Mike. One thing about Jake Paul is that he can fight. He’s no no duck head. He’s a good fighter. He can punch, he can bang. You can see what he’s done with the MMA fighters. He’s held his own and even knocked them out. He has that power. How’s Mike going to take a punch from a youngster who hits hard? Can Mike take the same power, the same punishment at 65? It’s not going to be healthy.
Are you concerned about Tyson’s health?
I am concerned. Yeah, 100%. Every fight you go into, especially at the age he’s at — is he going to take it seriously? I think so, but how seriously is he going to take it? Everyone remembers Mike Tyson, that tough tough fighter, that great world champion, that animal of a fighter, but I don’t want a fight like this to tarnish his record because a lot of people are going to think he’s a joke. We don’t really want it to get to that here fighters who have been world champions, and been up there as one of the best out there, now being beaten by YouTubers? It’s not a good look for boxing.
How does the fight play out?
I think Mike is going to try to go for the knockout but if he gets hit by one or two shots it might show what Mike is all about and maybe there might come a time in that ring where Mike thinks forget this, I can’t do it, I don’t need this no more. I don’t know mentally what state he’s in. In boxing it’s that first shot when it hits you. If you are going to be hit by a 10 oz glove, flush, and how are you going to cope with more punches like that? He’s going to think about his family. He’s going to think about his legacy. He might say fuck it, I’m going to walk away. Another thing as well with Mike, he’s done it before where he’s bitten someone and been disqualified and he can think, fuck it, I’m going to thrown everything in and do what I want to get the fight over with. Regardless, imagine if Mike Tyson goes in there and bites his ear or elbowed him or kicked him, people are still going to remember Mike Tyson as a ferocious and vicious man.
Tommy Fury vs KSI over I’m A Celeb - right decision?
Yeah, I think so. But then again you’re only in there a couple of weeks. It just depends when the fight is. It would have been a great detox for him and to do a bit of training stuff like that if the fight is a couple of months away. Having that one month in the jungle I think does your good, mentally, and brings your weight down and everything. It just depends when the fight is. If it was at the same time then yeah I think boxing for him comes first, and such a big fight fighting KSI — KSI is a massive name and Tommy has been out of the ring for a very long time now. That comes first for him. Boxing is what made him and boxing needs to come first.
Did KSI chicken out from your fight?
Look, I think the whole team were just using my name as bait to get other opponents. Deep down they don’t want to fight me. I think it went past that long that I forgot about it. My name kept flying around everywhere and it was nothing said, I didn’t see anything or not contract. I just saw them yapping my name about. No harm in that if they want to build up a fight, or build up his next fight, and by mentioning my name it caused a lot of people to watch it or get involved in what’s going on — is Amir Khan going to fight again — I don’t blame him. We’ve done the same thing in the past. I don’t think he wanted anything of it though.
Will we see back in the ring one day?
The next one we’re looking at is in the boxing ring and it is with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, so that’s what we are looking at and the country that’s backing it is very, very powerful. The fans want it, now the ball is in Manny’s court if he wants to do it, and I know there’s a lot going on in his life as he’s in politics. It’s just a waiting game. This happens a lot in boxing and then you both end up getting bored of it. When you’ve seen the proof of funds from the country itself, you know that it is real. They’re not messing about.
Did you speak to Turki Alalshik about a possible Manny Pacquiao fight?
Turki would never take that fight. It’s a shame. I don’t think Turki wants to do exhibitions or fights with guys who are retired because he has such a good roster.
The money on offer - would it be your biggest paid day?
No. Maybe second or third. Third biggest payday, yeah. But when you’re retired and you’re getting a paycheck like that, it’s a lot of money. We’ve made $12-13 million through fighting so we’ve done well in the sport so to have another paycheck thrown at you again, who would say no to it? Especially when you’re retired. That’s a massive motivation to get back in the ring. And another big motivation is to fight against such a great fighter as Manny Pacquiao, which never happened in the boxing ring when we were both active fighters but it can happen now so why not, yeah?
What fights are you excited about right now?
Boxing now is coming to the end of big fights happening. All the big undisputed fights have happened. Now you’ve got the next big one, Usyk vs Fury, but after that fight, what other heavyweight fights are there left that people are going to go crazy for? Turki in the last couple of years has done brilliant by putting the best against the best and it’s going to be hard now to see if there is anyone interested in the other fights.
When there are the heavyweights there, everyone is interested, especially the heavyweights we’d been used to seeing — Joshua, Fury, Usyk — all these guys have fought each other. Then you’ve got Dubois in the mix so really, not to sound disrespectful, we’re coming to the end of the heavyweight era, because the best have fought the best and we will find out at the end of this year who is the best out there, especially if Fury beats Usyk.
Now if you look at Usyk’s resume he’s beaten Joshua twice, he’s beaten Fury before, he’s beaten Dubois, so who is left? Fury, because Fury has beaten the guy who’s beaten the guy. AJ, that’s always going to be a big British fight so maybe they need to do a Riyadh season in the UK but even if that happens, that’s two. After that it’s done.
Manny Pac, still motivated?
The motivation is always going to be there. We’re friends. We’ve fought each other. We’ve trained with each other. At the end of the day we are prize fighters. A prize fighter, with a fight like that on the table, you’re never going to say no because it is a massive, massive fight. Maybe it’s a little bit too late but there’s still going to be fireworks because we’ll both have our hearts on our sleeves, and we’ll fight, we’ll fight very hard. It’d be good to do that fight but it just depends. Obviously, me and Manny are well-paid fighters and we get paid enough for our previous fights, so we won’t be taking anything less or short-changing ourselves for anyone.
There is interest there but I’ve left it to the team. Manny is showing some interest as well. Let’s see with this new entry — you’re got Saudi Arabia, UK boxing is big — but another nation is coming in hard and wants to throw money at entertainment now. I can’t say their name but if they come in now they’re going to follow the same footprint as Saudi Arabia. This one kind of surprised me as well when they said it, and they were ready to throw funds and deposits down, and they’re non-refundable deposits, so you know their team are on it. You look at the countries and how much wealth they have, it’s a powerful one. I’m not allowed [to say] but it is another muslim country.
Could you make the switch to WWE?
Mate, WWE is something we have been watching since we were young kids. I remember back when it was called WWF. Yeah, definitely. I’d love to give that a little bit of a try. It’s all entertainment. That’d be some fun, eh? I would not say no to that. That is something I’d jump at. It’s something I’ve been watching for a very long time, even before I got into boxing, we all used to watch with our big pillows and doing the choke slams and you name it. It’d be nice and something I would never say no to.
Was Sheeraz right to turn down Canelo?
Big move at the moment. He’s still a young kid. Obviously he’s a great fighter, he’s coming on, but he doesn’t need that fight at the moment. He knows he’s got a good career ahead of him and he doesn’t need to do it for the money at the moment. He’s doing it to make a name for himself and become a world champion in the sport of boxing so as a business move it’s a good move. But if it was financial then even I would have taken it if I knew I was more toward the end of my career so I think he’s made the right move not fighting someone like Canelo who can hit hard and he can take a lot out of you.
Canelo is one dangerous man and look, no disrespect to Hamza, I think he’s a great fighter, but I don’t think he has been tested yet. We still need to see a lot of Hamza Sheeraz before he steps in with those animals like the Canelos and the Charlos or the Janibeks because you know it’s all a step up and a time game. You can’t just step in with the top guy and assume that you’re going to win or do it for the payday because that can tarnish him and his legacy. And if he did take that fight, which I’m glad he didn’t, and god forbid he got hurt in that fight, he might not have been the same fighter again, so it’s a good choice.
There’s always another day and maybe catching Canelo at the end of his career? Canelo more or less is at the end of his career but he still has that more left in him that can beat someone like Hamza Shiraz.
AJ right to not take Dubois rematch?
I don’t think he should have taken that re-match. It’s the best choice he’s made. I think it’s a brilliant choice. It’s a smart move because you know AJ can fight anyone and he’ll sell out the arena and make a ton and tons of money.
So he’s smart by not taking that fight but one day he might have to take that fight to beat them cobwebs and leave that bad dream and overcome that. I think he made the right choice by not taking it now but in the future it’s still a fight. And even if he never fights him again, he tried, it happened, we’re all prize fighters and at this time he can make money elsewhere with an easier opponent.
You always have that one opponent who is always going to be the bogeyman, who is always going to beat the style that AJ has, and I think that is Dubois. He was punch perfect when I saw that fight.
How far is AJ off retirement?
Two fights, I think. That’s not to be disrespectful. I think the guy’s had a wonderful career. Two fights: one good win then go for the kill again. I think he has a nice easy fight next and gets the winner of Fury vs Usyk, but just take Fury — last big fight in Wembley and call it a day.
Talk to me about your charity work
I don’t really talk a lot about my charity stuff. Charity starts at home. In the UK we built boxing academies and most weekends the team go out and feed the homeless and we don’t advertise it. It’s as easy as going round local chippies, or local food stations, and picking up food to drop it to around 40, 50, 60 homeless people around the city. That’s something we do regularly and that comes from the heart. We do it ourselves. A couple of friends get together, let’s do this today, and it kills some time as well, just putting smiles on people’s faces.
We are now, by the Best British Asian Awards, we were named the best charity in the UK. We do a lot of work in Gaza. We’ve sent aid and food trucks and stuff. Same with Pakistan. Same with Ukraine when that happened, the war with Russia. We sent loads of food, aid, clothing and helped with the shelters in Poland because that’s where they were sent to just to be safe and away from the bombs.
The Amir Khan Foundation is not religious. We don’t follow one religion. We are multicultural, multi-religion. We help everyone and it just gives us peace and I want to thank everyone who donates and trusts the Amir Khan Foundation because it has been going for over 10 years now. It’s only getting bigger and bigger, and to be awarded by other organisations for how good the work is that we’re doing, it’s brilliant.
What does the future hold?
The one thing I’d like to do again in the USA is commentating because I love USA boxing and I have a great relationship with the promoters out there. I used to do a lot of it like how Lennox Lewis did because he was also a Brit and a Canadian but did a lot of big shows because he fought in America a lot of times. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing in the future. We’re also in talks with moving Meet The Khans to another platform like Netflix so it’s a global show and global event so people get to see what Amir and Faryal are really like.
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