Amir Khan aims to make Saudi Arabia a big boxing destination

With an aim to make Saudi Arabia the centre of the boxing world, the two-time World Champion Amir Khan has promised to put up a special show against Billy Dib on Friday on the massive 'Red Sea Fight Night' extravaganza here. Khan will make his big Middle East debut at the King Abdullah Sport City stadium here when he takes on Billy Dib for the Vacant WBC International Welterweight Championship.

Khan met face-to-face with Dib at the final press conference on Thursday at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel and said that this is just the beginning of his plan to bring big-time boxing to the region with the support of the Saudi General Sports Authority. The fight is being held during Saudi Season that aims to promote the nation as a world leading tourist destination.

"It's a very exciting time for boxing in the Middle East and myself and my partner Bill Dosanjh are pioneering the move with our Super Boxing League in the region," said Khan. "My fight with Dib is breaking new ground here and I want to put on a real show for the public that have not seen big championship boxing before or have only seen it on TV. I'm sure once they see it and feel the excitement, it will give them a big appetite for it so they can't wait to see the next show.

"This is just the start of our plans, we intend to make Saudi Arabia a big-fight capital just like Las Vegas, New York and London and in time I believe that it will be just as big as those cities," he added. Khan said that through Super Boxing League teams -- the Jeddah Sharks and Tigers -- his aim is to discover and develop the first stars of Saudi boxing.

"We will help to create exciting talent in this largely untapped area of potential. Also, we have just opened the Super Boxing Gym in partnership with Fitness Time to bring boxing training initially to eight properties in Saudi Arabia and can expand to 140 properties throughout the KSA that will give incredible access for people to train in boxing. "The dream would be to help discover the first Saudi boxing World Champion or help to take the first Saudi boxer to Olympic Gold, that is our aim and this is just the beginning," said Khan.

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