17.08.05 – Olympic Silver Medallist Amir Khan has invited Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff to be his guest of honour at his fight on September 10 at the Cardiff International Arena. The Bolton wonderboy has his second professional fight against Baz Carey on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe’s WBO World Super-Middleweight title defence but in the build up to his fight he has been glued to the TV watching Flintoff’s exploits against the Aussies.
Flintoff is a big boxing fan and is a close friend of Khan’s and even work-outs at the same gym in Salford as the teenage terror under trainer Oliver Harrison.
“Once I’ve finished training I’m straight home to watch the matches on TV. I get so wrapped up in the excitement that my dad has to pull me away to make sure I go running in the evenings!” said Khan.
He continued, “The boxing training has definitely helped Andrew with his all-round strength. From what I have seen of him in our gym, Andrew’s a good strong lad and would definitely be a match in the boxing ring for anyone his size. Boxing requires a lot of upper-body strength and you can see Andrew’s power in his batting and bowling. Put it this way, I would rather have a punch thrown at me than have him bowl a 90mph cricket ball at me,”
Khan finished by saying, “I think Andrew is a really inspirational figure in the England team along with the Captain Michael Vaughan and I can’t wait to watch the match next week at Trent Bridge. I hope that he will make it to my fight on September 10 after they have beaten the Aussies and won the Ashes.”
Tickets for ‘The Final Countdown’, to be headlined by Joe Calzaghe’s record 17th world title defence and special attraction on the undercard Amir Khan, are priced at £35, £50, £75 and £125 and are available from:
C.I.A BOX OFFICE: 02920 224 488
TICKETMASTER: 0870 602 1122
TICKETLINE: 0870 066 7799
PREMIER CONSULTANCY: 01204 535 332