Amir Khan the World Champion Role Model

IT'S RIDICULOUS to expect youngsters to be the nation's role models just because they happen to be exceptional at sport.

But if Mike Tindall and his dirty-talking rugby team-mates want to know how professional athletes should behave they need look no further than Amir Khan.
That thought crossed my mind as I watched the exemplary way Amir conducted himself at his Press conference on Tuesday to publicise the defence of his IBF and WBA world light-welterweight titles against Lamont Peterson in Washington DC on December 10.
In seven years Amir has progressed from teenage prodigy to a highly respected double world champ and a global personality.
Which is why as Britain's highest profile Muslim sportsman he was a guest of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a White House dinner last month.
Amir, 24, is a multi-millionaire and must be comforted to know he will never have to worry about money.
Yet unlike many so-called sports celebrities, he refuses to flaunt his wealth with displays of outrageous ostentation.
He will not be found in trendy nightclubs covered in bling with a bimbo hanging on his arm.
Nor does he live in a mansion the size of Buckingham Palace and he certainly does not roar around in a 200mph sports car.
His ambition was to own a top-of-the-range Porsche when he won his first world title.
But when he went for a test drive he realised he could only get one of his mates in it.
So he bought a Range Rover, which neatly sums up the lad.
His home is still in unfashionable Bolton, next door to his parents and his mum, Falak, still does his washing and cooking.
Unlike many fighters, Amir had the advantage of a middle-class background.
Dad Shah was a successful businessman and he and Falak made sure their son grew up in an environment that ensured family life and its values were paramount.

Despite earning his money in the most dangerous of all sports, Amir remains a caring and compassionate young man.
He is involved in several charities, with the NSPCC and Save The Children benefiting from his patronage.
And his local community will never forget his generosity when he presented them with a state-of-the-art £750,000 gym which now boasts 40 amateur boxers and a membership of 700.
What is not generally known is that whenever he fights in America he pays all the expenses for his old amateur trainer Mike Jelly to fly out.
Amir's business affairs are in the safe hands of his dad and other family members.
Shah told me: "We have invested wisely and he owns 11 houses and five flats — all paid for.
"He deserves his success because he gave up being a normal teenager to dedicate himself to boxing."
Amir is one of the country's most eligible bachelors but there is no hint of any romance in his life.
But his dad assured me Amir will be free to choose his own bride and will not have to follow the traditional path of an arranged marriage.
That information will no doubt considerably increase the boy's female fan mail.

 

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