Aamir Khan may have done a lot of fighting on the big screen in 'Ghajini,' but when it comes to fighting in real life there's another Amir Khan on the scene with big ideas on how to capture the hearts and minds of Desi's around the world. The 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist boxer and current pro is bouncing back right away after a rougher than expected 2008. Amir Khan (the boxer, not the actor) has a huge fight coming up on March 14 at the M.E.N. arena in Manchester, England when he takes on the former champion Marco Antonio Barrera.
The fight was made official last week.
Amir Khan, whose family is from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, is a member of the Rajput caste, which, appropriately, has a long and illustrious history of fighting and prominent warriors. A British Muslim, Amir Khan is definitely one of the hottest boxers of South Asian descent on the boxing scene today. Tickets to his fights usually sell out within hours and he generally pulls in around 6 or 7 million viewers every time one of his fights is televised.
Out of 20 total professional fights, Amir Khan has won 19 times with 15 of those wins coming by
knockout. He lost his unbeaten record last year when he was knocked out in 54 seconds by another undefeated fighter, Breidis Prescott. He has only fought once since. We have to give him credit, then, for boxing Marco Antonio Barrera, a multiple weight division champion who has fought in more title bouts than Khan has fought fights.
Amir Khan should have a cool insider perspective on how to beat Barrera. That's because Khan's trainer, Freddie Roach, is also the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, widely considered to be the best boxer in the world. Pacquiao already beat Barrera twice with Roach in his corner so they should be able to provide Amir Khan with some tips on how to do it again.
So what do you guys think? Can Amir Khan do it? Or did he bite off more than he can chew by taking on the old champ?