Former world champion Amir Khan detailed the worst time of his life as he suffered from injuries, scams and marital problems.
Khan admits to making many mistakes as he spent two years out of the ring before returning.
Speaking to Gary Neville, the Bolton man went over his problems, which his wife Faryal helped him through after a falling out.
The 35-year-old retired player, who won a silver medal for Great Britain when he won multiple bouts at the 2004 Athens Olympics as a teenager, was more open than ever about what happened.
Amir Khan’s mental health problems
“Mental health is a very important thing. It’s good that people are starting to talk about it. Mental health issues have happened to the best of us, like Tyson Fury and other fighters,” Khan told The Overlap.
“I have had massive [mental health] problems. In 2016, I had a big fight with my wife. I didn’t box. I was two years out of the ring and I gained weight.
“You know, I wasn’t happy with myself. I don’t know what it was.”
injuries
On a troublesome ailment in his boxing gear, he added: “I had an operation on my hand. I went back to training and it still hurt.
“Then I had to have another operation and another. I had three operations before I was fine.
“I really thought I would never fight again. That got me down, I know I’m at the top of my career, but I can’t fight.”
Preparing his body for a grudge match with fellow boxer Kell Brook was just the beginning. Khan had to mentally recover after being swindled out of millions.
Investments
At the time, I made some dumb investments that weren’t paying me back. I’m thinking, how am I going to live my life?
I lost five million [pounds] through different investments at the same time as my manual trade. So you can imagine the spiral I was heading into. I had lost a lot of money and couldn’t box because of my hand.
“I built a wedding hall in Bolton, which cost about twelve million. Someone took advantage of me while I was boxing and in training camp.
“They caught me at a time when I said yes to everything. What helped me was getting my wife involved as she began to break down every little detail.
“I had fallen out with everyone at the time. I had no family around me, no manager, no one to support me.”
Amir Khan’s career
It is a far cry from Khan’s career in the late 2000s. He left England for the United States and raised his profile significantly.
Wins over Marcos Maidana and Zab Judah linked Khan to fights with Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in the mid-2010s.
Both never happened, but Khan made a big payday late in his career with a pay fight against Brook.
He also has a TV show on a UK network which gives insight into his personal family life.
Not everything is pessimism for Amir Khan.
Follow WBN: Facebook @officialworldboxingnews. Twitter @worldboxingnews.
