British Boxer Amir Khan To Stage Fight In Saudi Arabia

British boxer Amir Khan is to stage a fight in Saudi Arabia on July 12, in a deal reportedly set to earn him up to £7 million ($8.84 million), according to media reports at the weekend.

The 32 year-old, who is of Pakistani decent, will fight Indian boxer and WBC Asian Champion Neeraj Goyat at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah next month, he confirmed on social media.

"This is an exciting challenge I have ahead of me," Khan was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Boxing superstar @amirkingkhan to fight in Saudi Arabia in a blockbuster battle against Neeraj Goyat - https://t.co/bAaG02Zdzs pic.twitter.com/JmUgYslAkO— Richard Maynard (@RichardMaynard1) May 31, 2019

"It will be the first time a British Pakistani will fight an Indian boxer, which eventually will bring the two nations together," added Khan.

"I'm a firm believer in sport being a great healer. I would like to thank the Saudi government and General Sports Authority for giving me this opportunity."

The MailOnline reported that Khan could earn up to £7 million from the Jeddah fight.

The British fighter was reportedly in Dubai and Saudi Arabia last week to finalise the deal.

Career drawing to a close

Last year, Khan, who won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, told Arabian Business he believes his career “is coming towards the end now”.

“There have always been talks about maybe doing a big fight in Dubai, and I’ve always wanted to do something like that, a big fight in Dubai and in the Middle East before my career ends,” he said.

“But I’ve been in the game a long time and my body has taken a lot of beatings.

“I can count on one hand how many fights I’m going to have. Before it was in the 10s,” he added. 

Khan said that he has seen too many fighters “stay in the game a little bit too long.”

“[Some fighters] have taken unnecessary punishment that they shouldn’t have to take,” he said. “Hopefully I don’t want to be in that position where I take one or two more shots that I shouldn’t have taken.”