Amir Khan has sent a warning to an unbeaten British boxer who he says is ‘talking shit’ behind his back.
‘King’ retired from boxing earlier this year after being beaten by longtime rival Kell Brook, who also retired later, at Manchester Arena in February.
The British-Pakistani fighter has been an inspiration to members of the Asian community after winning an Olympic silver medal aged just 17 and becoming a unified champion during his professional career.
However, he feels disrespected by Hamzah Sheeraz who he says has “talked shit” despite the 17-0 middleweight working with his uncle Taz Khan.
“You know when you have a child who disrespects you? Whatever you say, whatever you do, it’s about you behind your back,” Khan told Boxing Social.
“I’m not into any of this. I am here to support all young fighters. Each fighter, being Asian in particular. But for an Asian fighter, talking about you all the time, and I’m like ‘wait a minute, why talk about me?’
“I always support our Asian brothers, and there is one among them. It’s sad to see that. Even if my uncle works with him now, I don’t know, man. I’m a little confused.
“I opened so many doors for them. My uncle had no idea about boxing, I was the one who brought him to America, introduced him to people like Freddie Roach, and the respect he has in boxing is because of me. But these people forget it.
Khan doesn’t believe Sheeraz would disrespect him in person and warned the 23-year-old that despite his retirement he is not against settling their problem the old fashioned way.
“They never want to sit down with you and say it to your face because they know it,” he added.
“I just feel sad. That’s the sad side of boxing. When you retire from the sport of boxing, you see the people who are with you and who aren’t with you, and then people start talking bullshit.
“As soon as I said ‘I’m retired’, people like these Hamzah Sheeraz came out of the woodwork and started talking bullshit.
“I’m like, ‘Who the hell are you? Bro, I’m still a man. I’m not retired from everything in life, I’ll stick it to you if I have to.