By Sean Crose
Update: Amir Khan released the following statement:
Amir Khan was arrested during the early hours of Friday 4th July on suspicion of common assault against two youths. Shortly thereafter he was released on police bail pending further enquiries.
This was a minor incident involving a misunderstanding between Amir Khan and two other youths.
On Monday 7th July Amir was notified by the police that the allegations against him had been withdrawn and the matter would not be pursued any further.
Amir Khan has been arrested in England.
According to the BBC: “Former world champion boxer Amir Khan has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting two men in Bolton.” Police stated that the victims were 19 year old males who did not suffer serious injuries. The attack is said to have taken place in the early hours of Friday.
BoxRec reports that a Khan spokesman announced:
“Amir Khan was arrested on suspicion of common assault in the early hours of Friday 4 July. Amir has since been released without charge on bail pending further inquiries. At the stage we are unable to comment further on this matter.”
Details of what exactly happened are sketchy at the moment. Police apparently arrived at around half past one in the morning at Russell Street in the town of Bolton and were told by a witness that Khan was involved in the incident.
The Guardian is reporting the allegation that Khan was arrested for “allegedly attacking two teenagers in a street assault as they were returning from a mosque.” The Guardian goes on to report that Khan allegedly drove up to a group of men in a Mercedes C-Class. It also claims that both victims are said to know Khan and that one was injured in the cheek while the other was injured in the leg.
It seems the incident began, as such incidents often do, with pettiness. In this case, the Guardian reports that “witnesses claim the incident started when a member of the group was accused of making comments to a friend of Khan’s.”
Sounds like high school? The twenty-seven year old Khan may wish he were back in high school if the allegation holds up. For BoxRec claims Khan could lose his boxing license if found guilty (provided that he’s actually charged).
And what a shame that would be for such a talented individual. Khan has really struggled this past year to break into boxing’s upper echelon. After going through quite a dry spell, the former Olympic Silver Medalist looked terrific against Luis Collazo on the Mayweather-Maidana undercard last May.
Besides being a perennial would-be opponent for Mayweather, Khan announced recently that talks were under way for a possible future meeting in the ring with Manny Pacquiao. All that may prove for naught, however, if the worst possible scenario plays out for this incident.
Of course it must be noted that Khan’s been arrested before, in 2006, after an accident involving the BMW 654 Khan was driving injured a man by the name of Geoffrey Hatton. Khan ended up having to pay a fine for the incident and not being allowed to drive for half a year.
That, however, was an accident. An assault, on the other hand, is something that’s intentional. Not that Khan’s been proven guilty, mind you. He may have been arrested in England, but here in America we view people as being innocent until proven otherwise. And right now no proof of the alleged assault is available.
That means the responsible thing is to view this as a possible crime rather than as a proven, career-ending act of violence and stupidity. Indeed, one has to hope Khan isn’t guilty of a crime. No one should be rooting for a fighter to engage in a violent act outside the ring. Such a thing is not only unprofessional, it’s barbaric. And Khan’s come too far for anyone to rightfully want to see him destroy his own life, much less by hurting others who aren’t his professional opponents.
We’ll have to wait to see how this one plays out.