SAN FRANCISCO: Boxer Amir Khan has decided to remove his father, uncle and best friend from his management team as the former light welterweight champion struggles to keep his family and business separate, in the backdrop of family feuds in the past recent months.
In an interview to a British daily, the former two-division champion stated that he had removed his father Shah as his manager, uncle Taz Khan as his consultant and Saj Mohammad, who was the best man at his wedding and his lifelong best friend, from his management team.
"I have had to grow up and take control of my own life," said Amir Khan. "Dad won't be negotiating my contracts any more but I love them and they have been so good for me. But I've matured now and come to realise it is best to keep the two elements of my life apart," he added.
Amir said that he had resumed speaking to his parents once more after the bitter feud between the boxer's wife Faryal Makhdoom and them. Amir revealed that he would be boxing again in April or May and had invited them to watch him fight.
Regarding his wife Faryal, Amir said that she wanted to spend as much time possible with him in San Francisco, where he had taken to in order to train. Though training sessions were boring, Amir said that Faryal did not mind her stay in the American city away from Britain.
"She misses England. But there are less pressures out here and she can make the short escape to her family in New York from time to time," he said.
The boxer did not seem to forgive his lifelong friend Saj and his uncle as well. According to Amir, he couldn't believe he had been let down by some.
"My situation with my parents is stabilised now. But I couldn't believe some others let me down while I was at the lowest point of my life. This was the time when they should have been there to support me," he said. I'm a loyal person and I thought I would get loyalty in return. The ending of those relationships was not so much that I fired them as they had already decided to cash out. To be honest I couldn't believe it," he said.
The boxer has been rocked with public scandals one after the another. A bitter public feud between his wife Faryal and Amir's parents as well as sisters caused the boxer anguish in public. When things finally seemed to settle down, an inappropriate video of the boxer leaked online which caused him further embarrassed. Despite serious strains on their relationship, Amir and Faryal's marriage did not crash as most were expecting it to.
He brushed aside any speculation that he was past his prime and stated that despite being 30, now was the time he felt he could prove critics and cynics wrong.
"I'm only 30 but I've been around so long that people probably think my best days are behind me. Not me. I feel I'm coming into my prime years, that this will be my time to really shine," he said.