HK: So you were eight years old and going twice a week to the gym. You're hitting bags and pads, and doing circuits, and there are other kids there and you're copying them. The smell of sweat, the bags banging, and the chains of the bags and the bells ringing, people in the ring fighting, the smell of the leather of the gloves, the sweat you smell from miles off: I enjoyed it all, I had a ball.ĪK: You feel so good after training. My dad took me to the club for a session. HK: You'd never fought before, or taken any interest in boxing before?ĪK: No. well a little bit scared about getting beaten up. He says you were a hyper kid, got a lot of energy. HK: Your Dad had taken you to the gym at eight. And if and when I did go in the ring with someone bigger than me I was just excited. ![]() And I think that's why I've got so far, by not being scared. HK: You were never afraid? You never thought: 'A big boy is going to hit me really hard'?ĪK: No, I was never scared. Is this going to happen when I get in?' But then when I went into the ring, the adrenaline took over. We were sat by the ring when it was all happening and I thought: 'This is mad. ![]() How old were you? What was that like?ĪK: I was about nine or 10 years old. HK: When was the first time you saw a real fight? Two men in the ring fighting properly. Soon Amir Khan will be very rich and probably a world champion. For Akram Khan, too, success is a family business. He reminds me of the kathak dancer Akram Khan in the way he carries himself, in his grace, containment and politeness, as well as in his position as a young representative British Muslim. With no fear or self-doubt, his face is sensuous and his eyes serious. He is a star who hasn't yet learnt how to be a star. He is shy, quiet, without vanity and a little amused by the attention he is getting. He doesn't look as if anyone has ever hit him, or, indeed, as if he has ever hit anyone. Unlike Rooney, Amir Khan doesn't have a boxer's face.
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