Frank Warren’s hot trio James DeGale, Billy Joe Saunders and Frankie Gavin have all vowed to win world titles after watching Amir Khan’s victory on Saturday night. All three boxed on Khan’s undercard at the M.E.N Arena with winning performances and then sat ringside to watch the him take the WBA World Light-Welterweight title from Andreas Kotelnik. The young stars are all aiming to be in the same position as Khan in three or four years time.
Olympic gold medallist DeGale, 23, who beat tough Irishman Ciaran Healy in the opening round of their contest, said, “Amir’s performance was fantastic and he got his tactics absolutely spot on.. Of course I look at Amir now and I say to myself ‘I want a piece of that’. Like Amir, I’ve come out of the Olympics with a medal and there is quite a weight of expectation on my shoulders to produce the goods, but I believe I’m settling in to in the professional ranks and I know that the next few years will fly by. Before I know it I’ll be challenging for a world title.
Hatfield hotshot Saunders, 19, made it three wins out of three – all in the second round – after he beat experienced Matt Scriven. He said, “I’m still in my teens and I’ve got a while before I’m looking at titles, but watching Amir win the world title really drove home the fact that it could be me in only a few years time.”
And Birmingham star Gavin, 23, who recorded a second round stoppage of Graham Fearn, said, “I’m really happy for Amir because he is close mate from our amateur days and to see him win the world title was great and it gives myself, James and Billy something to aim for. There is quite a bit of pressure on us each time we fight and there is talk of titles, but I’m focused on building up my experience and Frank Warren will know when the time is right to let me off the leash.”