Boy king Khan happy to remain in the ranks

"I've never met him but I've seen his old fights on film," said Khan. "I love his style and the fact that he used his head. He was a clever boxer.

"He could box going backwards, he could adapt to any opponent and he talked well outside the ring too. He had everything."

Well, Khan, 18 next month, is at the gateway to everything. His progress to the Olympic lightweight final, where he lost to Cuba's defending champion Mario Kindelan, propelled him to the front line of British sport and earned him such popularity that he could be voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Fast hands, fancy footwork and a flashing smile, he's British boxing's gift from heaven - and the big-time professional promoters know a star when they see one.

But amateur boxing in this country is barely surviving and the continued presence of Khan would attract youngsters and Lottery funding. "I like to think that what I did in Athens gave the sport a higher profile," he smiled.

It's a dilemma which may end in a compromise with Khan fulfilling his amateur obligations at the World Championship next year and Commonwealth Games in 2006 before turning professional.

"He will make the right decision at the right time," insisted his dad, Shajaad, who has monitored every step of his son's career since he first took him to a gym in Bolton at the age of eight.

"He was a hyperactive kid. I wanted him to channel his energy into something useful rather than waste it in the playground."

Khan remembers the enthusiasm with which he embraced the ring. "I loved it," he recalled. "It just seemed so natural to me. What helped, of course, was the support of my family.

My dad's been to every fight." In his Union Jack waistcoat, Shajaad was a familiar figure at ringside in Athens. He and wife Falak, both born in Pakistan, came to Britain as children and settled in Bolton where they later built up a scrap metal business.

Khan is the second eldest of their four children and his younger brother Haroon is also a talented boxer. Their cousin Sajid Mahmood plays cricket for Lancashire and England.

A large, close-knit Asian family, the Khans now enjoy 'Olympic' status in Bolton. But, apart from the occasional complimentary curry at the local takeaway, Khan has tried to steer clear of the celebrity circuit.

"I'm not the party type," he said. "I just like to chill out with my friends. I don't get out a lot.

"There's always someone who wants to have a go at you because you're a boxer. I try to avoid those situations."

Khan doesn't drink, smoke or take drugs. The one vice he admits to is takeaways - curries and kebabs - though he's also been known to watch Bolton Wanderers.

He's today's role model for British youth, once the exclusive preserve of grammar schoolboys who bowled a good length at cricket and recited Latin verbs.

IT'S a fact, too, that in these troubled times young Khan has probably done more for race relations than any number of commissions, reports or public inquiries.

"During the Games even the pubs in Dublin were packed with people cheering for this young British boxer," smiled his manager Asif Vali. "He's a great unifying force. He's beginning to realise that now, but he's very modest about it."

Considering the violence involved, boxing is unique in the rapport it generates between the fighters. "A lot of people think we just go in the ring and bash each other up," said Khan.

"Me and Kindelan were like best mates. We had photographs taken together. He congratulated me, said how well I'd done and stuff like that. He wished me good luck afterwards. He was good."

Khan, who continues to study sports development at a college in Bolton, prays before he fights and attends the mosque with his family. "It's an important part of my life but I prefer to keep that private," he said.

He's back in the ring now, preparing to captain England's amateur boxing team against the US in Liverpool on Friday. It will be his first contest since Athens.

Just like in the pro game, the preparation period involves early morning runs and lots of gym work. "I've got to get stronger because I'm boxing men now, tough guys who can take a good shot," he said.

Amir Khan, the boy king, is about to move into the big world. "The pressure's on him," said his manager. "Everyone wants to beat him now."