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Amir Khan: A Boy from Bolton
IN the run-up to Amir Khan's first title bout against Willie Limond last month, it seemed high time to settle down to a belated review of the Lancashire lad's autobiography. Bloomsbury put up the best fight in the publishers' battle for Khan, and although it did not make the fee public, rumours flew that Khan scooped £500,000 for A Boy From Bolton: My Story. That's pretty impressive for the 20-year-old exponent of a supposedly declining sport, even though Wayne Rooney reportedly made £5m out of Harper Collins and Charlotte Church £800,000 for telling people about her first 15 years. Amir's book takes us up to July 2005, just before his first professional fight, when he was all of 18. "People say I'm too young to be writing an autobiography," acknowledges Khan. "They are absolutely right. This is not my autobiography. It is the first chapter in the story of my life." But why would anyone want to read 190 pages of a teenager's life story (even if it is out in paperback now and available for next to nothing on Amazon instead of £16.99)? For one thing, because it's well-written, if not exactly by Khan. The ghost-writer they nabbed is Kevin Garside, who has been concentrating on Formula One for the Telegraph for the last four years but covered boxing in earlier incarnations. He seems more at home in the sport than, say, Robert Edwards did when writing Henry Cooper's story straight after his book on Stirling Moss, and is therefore more capable of putting the reader at ease. Garside dexterously drives the narrative while allowing Khan's voice to be heard loud and clear, a fact that should make this book particularly comfortable for younger fans. However, it won't alienate the older generation, because Khan's voice is worth hearing. He communicates a sense of excitement with the sport, which is very refreshing. There are too many books on boxing written by people who don't seem to like the sport, or like it in a morbid way. But they don't come any healthier than the young Olympian, whose story exudes not only a genuine love of boxing but a strong work ethic. He attempts no false modesty, but makes it clear his achievements are the result of hard effort and a will to win: "I learned that you can never be fit enough, that you have to prepare like a challenger in every fight. "When I lost I went back to the gym and worked harder. It's that competitive thing again. It has always been inside me. I love to fight." A Boy From Bolton gives us a detailed picture of Khan's amateur boxing career (complete with handy record as an appendix) from its beginnings to the triumph of Athens and beyond. If there's a flaw in the narrative - and it's really a matter of taste - it's the reports of the fights themselves are sometimes truncated while a lot of space is given to the politics of Khan's debates with the ABA and his choice of promoter when he decided to turn pro. Take the final meeting with Mario Kindelan - barely half a page of action. The purchase of Khan's new Range Rover after the fight gets a higher word count. To compensate, we're given an insight into the background of a young man who found himself the spokesperson for Asian youth following 7 July 2005, when three London Muslims detonated bombs strapped to themselves on underground trains and a bus. Earlier in the book, we'd seen a bit of posturing from Khan, the suggestion that he was a tearaway rescued by boxing from a life of hooliganism. In fact, the later chapters confirm an impression of a middle-class boy from a loving family who takes his responsibilities as a public figure seriously. There's a whole chapter on the earthquake in Pakistan, which praises the work of people like Shaista Aziz in keeping the disaster in the news, and there is a touching account of Khan's personal response following his visit to Muzaffarabad. Khan doesn't flaunt his religion as part of his boxing persona like Naseem Hamed, but takes the time to talk about it in his book for those who are interested: "When I have finished boxing and have a family of my own, my kids will do the same as I did...they will go to the new mosque and study the Koran. Hopefully it will do for them what it has done for me, show them how to be good people, proud of their heritage and respectful to others." Send a copy to your nephew. Take it on holiday. This is an encouraging read. |
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