TIL Desk Sports/ Neeraj Goyat was 12 and yet to consider boxing as a career option when Amir Khan won a silver medal in the lightweight division of the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Fast forward 15 years and Goyat is set to face the British-Pakistani two-time world champion at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
A war of words between two boxers ahead of any boxing bout is an obvious phenomenon and staying true to tradition, Amir fired the first salvo a day after Pakistan’s heavy defeat to India at the World Cup. Amir tweeted: “Pakistan lost to India today #ICCWorldCup2019 come July 12th I will avenge the loss and knock out Neeraj Goyat on our upcoming fight in #SaudiArabia (sic).” Goyat said that Amir can keep dreaming. “Keep dreaming, you will be standing there to witness my victory,” he said.
On paper, Amir, who turns 33 in December 2019, is the overwhelming favourite. He held the light-welterweight WBA title from 2009 to 2012 and won the IBF title in 2011. He was 22 at the time of winning the WBA title, thus becoming one the youngest ever British professional boxing champions. However, his recent attempt at winning the welterweight title ended in failure when he was stopped by USA’s Terence Crawford in the sixth round at New York’s Madison Square Garden in April.
