Amir Khan Raises 80 Thousand Pounds

Compiled by Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Junior welterweight boxing champion of the world Amir Khan recently addressed over 700 people at Islamic Help’s charity dinner at the Hilton London Metropole.

Having returned recently from a visit to the White House, Amir was intent on making a difference and to contributing to ease the plight of those caught in the worst drought to have hit the region in over 60 years.

When addressing guests last week he spoke of his passion for the cause and how moved he had been “I wanted to give something back and that is the reason we all got together and joined Islamic Help and thought about having this charity event.”

Over £80,000 was raised during the evening and a pair of Amir’s boxing gloves was auctioned for a staggering £7500; a Team Khan T-shirt and Khan–Judah fight poster raised £825 and £750 respectively. Zaheer Khan, Head of Fundraising at Islamic Help was overwhelmed by the response to the event – “We knew that by bringing in a big name and someone as popular as Amir we would have a great response but we have been taken aback!. Amir’s a great guy and a brilliant ambassador for the sport, the country and Muslims worldwide – we’re honoured to have worked with him to raise money for such a cause.”

The Horn of Africa Crisis is, according to the United Nations, set to worsen over the coming months and as many as 750,000 people may lose their lives. The UN has recently declared a famine in Bay, the sixth area in Somalia to have been declared a famine zone.

Inside the boxing ring, it is looking more and more like Khan will be defending his title belts against Lamont Peterson, likely in December, with an eye towards possibly facing Floyd Mayweather, Jr. after that.

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