Ex-world champion Amir Khan says no amount of money can bring him back into the boxing ring

Former professional boxer Amir Khan retired from the ring in May and has no intentions of returning. He can’t see himself as a boxer anymore and does not want his children to ever opt for such a “brutal” profession either.

On Thursday, Khan shared his interview with sports radio station talkSPORT captioned, “Boxing is one of the hardest sports in the world and [you should know] when to call it a day. It was difficult to walk away from boxing but the signs were there, it was time to say good bye.”

The interview spanned over many figures and events from the boxing world and a few minutes in, Khan opened up about his retirement in detail. The interviewer prompted him by saying he “had to” ask whether the ex-boxer would come back “if the right money was on the table for a fight” to which he replied in the negative. “No, I’m done. Honestly, I’m done [with] the sport.”

He pinpointed his last fight as the moment he knew he had lost his love for the sport and said by that point, he was training just to keep fit. “It wasn’t me, even when I would walk into the ring, normally I’d be nervous, I’d be excited [but this time] I [felt] nothing, I had no butterflies in my stomach. I just wanted to get it over with. I didn’t want to be there, I’d lost love for the sport, to be honest with you. I love the sport, don’t get me wrong, but me as a fighter in boxing, I can’t do it anymore.”

Khan said he’s glad to be rid of the physical toll it would take on his body and has earned enough to live comfortably. “When I wake up now, if I sit there for too long, my back’s gone. I’ve always got injuries here and there. I’m so happy that I’m walking now, mentally and physically, and [have done] well in the sport financially [as well]. At the end of the day, we’re all prize fighters and I’ve made enough money now to live the rest of my life happy and see my kids grow up.”

He also answered a frequently asked question as to whether he’d let his kids box. “I take them to the gym, my girl the other day was boxing with me [but] I would never let them [pursue it] because boxing is a very brutal sport — it’s not a nice sport. One thing I can say is, you win a fight, you’ll find everyone around you [but] if you lose a fight, everyone disappears. It’s a very sad sport and everyone is there for the taking, it’s what they can get from you and make from you. Luckily, I got to see all this and realise that people are like this.”

The last couple of fights proved very lucky for the former boxer as he saw a financial boost and found the confidence to quit. “The last couple of fights are where I made the most money in my career because I was doing everything myself. I conked this guy out, I conked that guy out because at the end of the day, as boxers, we do make a lot of money but we do have a lot of big expenses as well. Luckily, I had my wife help me out on this, she took full control of all expenses, who I’m paying, what I’m paying and I saved so much. It is probably the last couple of fights that have given me the confidence to leave the sport and never have to fight again.”