ISLAMABAD: Boxer Amir Khan will now fight two-time world champion Billy Dib on Friday in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) for the WBC International Welterweight Championship title after his original opponent Neeraj Goyat was involved in a car accident.
Amir was due to face Goyat at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in the first ever Pakistan-India showdown in a boxing ring.Amir will still headline the groundbreaking boxing extravaganza in the Middle East that also features Hughie Fury, Prince Patel and Dave Penalosa all in championship title action.
Goyat will not recover in time to fight Amir on the scheduled date and promoter Bill Dosanjh of The Super Boxing League has moved quickly to secure Amir a new opponent in the World class former two-time World champion Dib.
Amir said: “first of all my heart goes out to Neeraj and I pray for him to make a full recovery and is fit and healthy again to resume his boxing career.”“We’ve had to make the decision to find a replacement and we’ve done extremely well in securing Dib to now be in the opposite corner.”
“This fight is a landmark moment for boxing in Saudi Arabia as Bill, the Saudi GSA, the government and I have worked tirelessly to put this event together. We wanted to keep the event on during the important Saudi Season and ensure the fans in Saudi Arabia get to watch this great event.”
“I’ve been a professional for nearly 14 years now and I’ve seen and dealt with near enough everything in that time so adjusting to a new opponent and challenge is part and parcel of the boxing business so I’ve just got to sit down with my team and work on the new plan,” said Amir.
“I’m really excited the fight is still on, I would have been absolutely distraught if my dream of fighting in Saudi had to be put on hold. Dib is a respected and experienced two-time World Champion so I’m looking forward to pitting my skill against him.”
