On February 19, 2022, Amir Khan met his domestic rival Kell Brook in a highly-anticipated welterweight showdown. As the crowd at AO Arena watched closely, Kell Brook managed to stop Amir Khan in the sixth round and walk away with bragging rights. Three months later, Khan formally announced his retirement from the sweet science.
“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,” Khan said.
“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.”
In the midst of his retirement, more information was shared with the boxing world. Khan reportedly tested positive for a banned substance on the night of his most recent fight, but he has continued to deny the doping allegations levied against him.
“I am a retired fighter. You can see by my performance against Kell Brook [that it] wasn’t the best. I lost the fight. If I went in there and knocked Kell Brook out it is different,” Khan said.
“I have never cheated in my life, I am the one who wanted the testing done.”
Despite Khan’s rebuttal, he has reportedly been suspended until April 5, 2024. Still, Khan is ready to end his retirement and return to the ring against “one of the biggest names in boxing.”
“I think there’s gonna be a massive announcement in the next week or so. I might be coming back in the ring again. I might be fighting again. It’s not gonna be a small fight, it’ll be like a super fight as well,” Khan said.
“The deal was that big I couldn’t turn it down. So that’s why I’ll get myself back in the gym again, train again. It’ll be a massive fight. We’ve kept it very quiet at the moment.”
