A PROMISING young boxer, who is the cousin of Amir Khan is ready to make his debut.

Abdul Khan from Bolton announced he is turning professional at the age of 19.

Khan has been training since he was a youngster at a gym in Darwen with friend Matt Bolton but now trains at Oliver Gym in Salford.

Training twice a day, five times a week, he is determined to make his first year one to remember.

Overjoyed at having recently finished studying sport at college, Khan cheekily admitted he only went to keep his mum happy.

He said of his mum: “She is my biggest inspiration. She said it is good to have a back-up but she always supports me in boxing.

“I used to watch Mike Tyson and I was inspired by how he’d wake up at 4am for running, so I thought I’d do the same.

“But it was winter days, and it was pitch black. I was only 13 so my mum said to wake up at 6am and she’d come with me.

“We would go every morning whether it was snowing, raining or foggy.”

The Bolton News: Abdul KhanAbdul Khan

Abdul was eight years old when he first went to a boxing gym to start the sport as a hobby.

He had his first fight at 12-years-old and loved it, having now had over 42 fights.

He said: “I came here during lockdown in 2020 and never had any thought of turning pro then.

“I’m making the transition from amateur to pro.”

His inspirations include cousin Amir Khan and David Haye and Khan aspires to be as good as them one day.

“Amir has been following my career since I was 13, when he started noticing me, and of course I want to make a name for myself as well,” he said. “I am hungry for it and want to win titles and I think Amir realised I could do something. He has been supportive of me and so has his wife Faryal.

In 2019, Khan won the national title as the youth ABC.

He said: “I would go to the gym after school, getting a bus at 5pm. I do all of this because there will be times in a fight you will be unfit, and you don’t want to be in that position again.

“But I have trained really hard for this moment now and I am ready and excited to fight.”

While Khan spends most of his time training, working out or at home with his mum, leaving little time to socialise, he hopes that dedication will be worth it.