Michael Grant has today responded to an article featuring Amir Khan in the trade paper, Boxing News, on May 19th 2006. Grant who is 7-0-1 in a flourishing professional career was unhappy with some of the comments in the article.

"It was with great interest that I read Boxing News 19 May 2006. I noticed the article by Glynn Evans about Amir Khan. I feel I have to respond to some of the inaccuracies contained in the article, and also the outrageous comments of Khan concerning my ability as a boxer.

"Firstly, Khan became the first ever boxer to pull out of an ABA championship because of ticket allocation. Knowing that virtually every boxer performs many times in championships throughout their amateur career under such circumstances, and that it would be inconceivable that they would consider pulling out, you have to wonder why Khan did. In my opinion the ticket allocation excuse is a load of baloney. Within an hour, I believe, of Khan saying he cannot box unless he gets more tickets, the ABA contacted him and said they would move his bout to earlier in the day and he could have hundreds of tickets, as many as he wanted, in fact.

"We all know that it was a business decision, based on the fact that Khan was dumped senseless on the canvas, and almost knocked out, by a lesser opponent than myself, or Jamie Cox, earlier in the championships. I won 5 national titles as an amateur and Cox, who is a huge puncher, was knocking everybody out in the ABAs, and currently, is doing superbly well boxing for England and is one of the stars of the team. Basically, there was a possibility that I would have outpointed Khan, or that Cox would have knocked him spark out. As it was, Khan pulled out and I beat Cox in the final. During that fight Cox caught me with the hardest punch I have ever taken. I believe that punch would have KO'd Khan, whose chin is suspect. That would have spelled the end of the Khan money spinning machine that is now so lucratively in operation. So obviously they took the right decision, business wise, in avoiding Cox and me.

"As for him saying that I “wasn`t that much”, well, that really got my back up. As I have said earlier, I won 5 national titles. I consider that to be pretty good going. As a professional, I am undefeated against people my own size, not hobbits. The only blemish on my pro record is an outrageous draw, when in most peoples opinion I had won three of the four rounds of a fight. I have since defeated that opponent. I have had some tough fights and not had the easy ride that Khan has had. However, nor do I want it.

"As far as him boxing the winner of the ABA championships, I can confirm that I was contacted by the ABA about boxing Khan after I won the ABAs. I said I would box him anywhere, anytime. When someone suggested it might be on a professional show in Bolton, I said I couldn`t wait. I was gutted to discover that plans were made to avoid me and bring Kinderlan over from Cuba. It was not me who refused a Grant v Khan fight. And unlike Kinderlan, I would not have gone to Bolton to lose. It appeared to myself, and everyone I spoke to in boxing, that Kinderlan was not fighting to win.

"As for the future, I hereby state that as soon as I win my first title, and I shall be going down the road of legitimate titles, not jumping on the alphabet bandwagon of “snide” titles, I will offer Kahn the first voluntary defence. Perhaps if he should win a title he could do the same. I would be happy to box Khan. Khan holds no worries for me. In fact, I think he is less effective since he turned professional and it is apparent that in the ring he is not a thinking fighter.

"Finally, unlike Khan, I regard other boxers with respect and in no way want to give people the impression that I do have high regard for Khans boxing ability. I expect to get a difficult and hard time when I eventually manage to get him in the ring. However, I am very confident of winning a title fight against Khan and look forward to it with relish. I must admit, reading derogatory comments about yourself from people like Khan certainly stokes up the fire and I cannot wait to shut his mouth up for good. Remember, Amir, you are a cockerel one day and a feather duster the next!".



IF AMIR THINKS HES 'NOT THAT MUCH'THEN WHY DONT HE FIGHT HIM?.