LONDON (Jan. 12, 2011) – AMIR KHAN has been named the British Boxer of the Year for 2010 by highly respected weekly publication, Boxing News, the world’s oldest magazine dedicated to the sport. Having turned 24 just last month, Khan is one of the youngest ever recipients of this prestigious award, which commemorated a fantastic year for Bolton’s WBA light-welterweight champion. The full list of awards and a thorough review of 2010 can be found in this Thursday’s (January 13) issue of Boxing News.
Amir made his American debut in May, soundly defeating former ‘world’ champion Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden in the New Yorker’s hometown, then came through a tremendous struggle – proving the chin that had been questioned in the past – to vanquish rock-fisted Argentine Marcos Maidana in December.
Khan edged super-middleweight star Carl Froch into second place, with heavyweight king David Haye third..
“I’m delighted with the award,” said Khan. “Big thanks to Boxing News. I want to dedicate this award to my family and my fans for believing in me. I’d also like to say a big thank-you to all my fans who followed me to New York and Las Vegas.”
Nottingham “Cobra” Froch pushed Khan all the way after dominating Arthur Abraham to reach the Super Six semi-finals.
“Our awards always cause and stir debate and this year I expect opinions to vary on who deserves to be the British Fighter of the Year,” BN Editor Tris Dixon surmised. “We voted in the office and it was incredibly tight as to who deserved it more, Amir Khan or Carl Froch, but Khan’s courageous victory over Marcos Maidana, and that he was undefeated in 2010, earned him a title Carl had won last year.”
In the International category, super-talented Argentine Sergio Martinez capped a memorable year – in which he finally rose from obscurity to beat his two main rivals for the mantle of world’s best middleweight – with the BN award. Having outscored Kelly Pavlik and then destroyed former conqueror Paul Williams in two rounds with one of the best punches of 2010, there could be no other winner. Mexican light-flyweight Giovani Segura was second, his bantamweight countryman Fernando Montiel third and Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino superstar regarded as the world’s best fighter, pound-for-pound, was shoved down to fourth.
“It’s very gratifying that they are recognising Sergio in the United Kingdom and that they consider him to be the best boxer of 2010,” enthused the Argentine’s trainer Gabriel Sarmiento. “It’s really an honour for us.
“All these honours are a fruit of the sacrifice and hard work that we’ve put in, without which we wouldn’t have achieved this success. And now we’ll be working even harder than before. I’d like to thank Boxing News for the support and for this honour.”