You?ve been out of the ring for six months. What was behind the layoff? It?s a number of things. Amir?s [Khan] wedding came up and then it was Ramadan. After that I was back in the gym and waiting for a TV date to fight on. I?m self promoted, well Amir is my promoter, so it?s sometimes hard to get on shows but I sat down with my dad and said that it didn?t have to be on TV. So we got in touch with Steve Wood and he told us that November 15 was available, so it was ideal. And Blackpool is just down the road from Bolton.
Because of the problems you just mentioned, do you think you will sign with a promoter or are you happy with the way things are progressing? It?s made me think that I could sign with another promoter. We haven?t really sat down with any promoters but we spoke to Eddie Hearn and there was a possibility of me fighting on the Tyson Fury-David Haye show but that got called off. Eddie Hearn was cool and in the future, I?m sure I?ll appear on one of his shows.
Are you still training with Oliver Harrison? Yes it?s going really well, it couldn?t be any better. It?s as if nothing ever happened with Amir and Oliver [they split in 2008]. They did train together but there?s no bad feeling or anything and Oliver does not treat me differently. He treats me just as he treats all his fighters like Martin Murray and Rocky Fielding. I?m very happy there and I have no intention to leave for a very, very long time. I might be there for my entire career.
With the likes of Martin Murray and Rocky Fielding around, it must be a positive place to train? Definitely. Seeing the other guys succeed pushes me and motivates me. We all get on together well in the gym, there?s always banter and it?s cool. You might think I wouldn?t train with Martin because he?s a different size but we do certain exercises together and that just pushes you even harder. Plus you?ve got the amateur lads and we all push each other.
Describe your style to those who have not seen you fight yet. I?m more of a fighter than a boxer, I?m aggressive. I can adjust to any style, though; I can box, I can fight or I can move a bit on my feet. That is a positive ? the fact I can always change my style.
Do you believe you are more suited to the professional game than the amateurs then? Definitely. Since I?ve been training in professional gyms I?ve noticed a big difference. I?m sparring with 14oz gloves and I?m fighting in 8oz gloves. I?m sparring for longer rounds and I?m now doing six to eight rounds so the fitness is getting better and better. When I first walked into Oliver?s gym I struggled but I got my mind on the job and I?m now enjoying it more than the amateurs.
You?re at super-flyweight now. Do you think you?ll move up through the weights like your brother has? Yeah, definitely. Because I?m boxing at a low weight there?s not many people in my weight catergory so my aim is to become the best in Britain and then slowly, slowly move up.
It?s inevitable that you?re going to be compared to your brother, that you?ll be asked questions about your brother. Does it get on your nerves? No. It?s a motivator to me. I look at Amir like an idol as much as I do a brother. What he?s achieved is amazing. Even if I achieve half of what Amir has achieved then I?ll be happy with that. Being asked about him just motivates me.
Amir has taken a lot of abuse from fans and the public ? much of it unfair ? despite the success he has enjoyed. Did that ever put you off turning professional and walking into the limelight? No, I was looking forward to that in a way because I knew it was going to come. It all comes as part of the package, you have to be able to deal with everything. I got abuse as an amateur, I got abuse after my first professional fight. The way I look at it is the haters are motivators. You want to prove a point because the people that put me down would like to be in my shoes.
It was reported before you turned professional that your mum didn?t want you to turn professional. Has she warmed to the idea yet? She?s still against it. It was hard enough to get her to accept that I was going to have just one professional fight. I told her I wanted to experience the professional game and I?d always wanted that. I told her I wanted to experience it so I wouldn?t look back with any regrets so after the first fight my mum came to the dressing room and said, ?Right that?s it, you?ve experienced it now, call it a day.? But I told her it was just the start, I haven?t achieved anything yet. She just wants me to come out of the ring safe, win, lose, or draw. As long as I?m training as I am now, I will be coming out of the ring safe.
Your mum said she had a hard time seeing Amir lose. How was it for you, as his brother, to witness the setbacks he?s had? It?s tough. We?d be at ringside and you see every punch that lands, that misses, that is thrown. It hurts when you see your own brother getting hit and you can?t do anything about it. It makes you feel the pain. He admits there?s some punches he shouldn?t have taken but the more we worry, the harder it is for him. But all of Amir?s losses, he?s come out of the ring safely. People forget that, he?s been knocked down but he always gets back up – a lot of great fighters have experienced this. It?s boxing. One punch can change the game.
How often do you approach Amir for advice? When he?s in the country, all the time. He?s been through what I?m going through now. I don?t want to make the same mistakes that he made. I want to do everything step by step; I want to win the English, British, Commonwealth, European and then the world title. I don?t want to jump in at the deep end. I have admiration for the likes of Lomachenko who is going to fight for the world title in his second fight but I?m keen to keep learning and go the right route to the top. I?ll be learning until I retire.
A fight with Floyd Mayweather has been mentioned for next year. Would you pick your brother to beat Mayweather? This is one fight where I think Mayweather has a good chance to be beaten. Mayweather has proved himself against fighters who are stronger, more powerful and bigger than him, some who are naturally two or three weights above him but he?s never really fought anyone who can match him for speed. When Mayweather fought Zab Judah, it was an even fight for a few rounds. Amir has that same speed, he is hungrier, younger. He is confident that he?s ready for this fight and he?s been working with hard with [trainers] Virgil [Hunter] and Tony [Brady] so let?s hope the fight gets finalised and signed. If he keeps training the way he is, it will be a good result for us.
Back to you. How do you envision the next 12 months going? I want to be busier. I want to be fighting every six weeks or once a month. I want to get the rounds in and get my ranking up there. There?s not many people in my weight class so I?d like to be at least English champion, if not the British champ. In and around my division, there?s some good names like Kal Yafai and Paul Butler. We never boxed as amateurs and we?re friends outside the ring but that would change if we got inside the ring together.
