AMIR KHAN was sent packing by his beautiful wife for the most important training camp in his career.
Bolton's ace Khan, 35 years old, will finally face Kell Brook in Manchester on Saturday night. This is the culmination of a bitter 20-year rivalry.
Amir Khan finally gets the chance to end his feud with Kell Brook
Athens 2004 silver-medal winner Terence Crawford, welterweight world champion, was his last fight. He bullied him in the ring and in the ring.
Khan went to his old foe's Colorado camp and Nebraska camp for weeks worth of intense training and sparring. Faryal, his wife, handpicked his new team, now led by Brian 'BoMac'McIntyre - without telling him.
Khan said: "My wife was the one that made the call to arrange it all.
"I was in Dubai on vacation, and she advised me to return to the UK to prepare for training camp.
"I was like, "Why am I going on a training camp?"
"She said that she was going to train alongside Terence Crawford and Brian McIntyre. Because of the things that had been said about our fight, I initially didn't want it.
"But she said to me that I should trust her and that it would be best for me.
"Faryal suggested that we try them. I initially said no due to all the s*** she had said. But she made the calls, and I was gone before you know it.
Free Bets: Get more than PS2,000 in NEW CUSTOMER DEALSUnfortunately, Khan's mother will not be receiving a cut of his huge pension.
He laughed and said, "She's not getting paid for her assistance!"
"When I told her that I wanted to fight Kell Brook, she asked me if it was true. She said that she would let me go if I worked hard and took the fight seriously.
"She would talk to BoMac about my sparring and training. She was aware that I was hard training and she started to like the idea.
Khan was the only Team GB fighter to qualify for the Greece games. This helped to change the funding and face of amateur boxing in Britain.
British-Pakistani proudly became a household name, world champion, TV star, and national treasure.
He admits that all of this could be tainted now that he is mostly remembered for losing to the 35 year-old enemy, whom he had always considered an understudy.
Khan said, "You are always one fight away of destroying your entire legacy."
"This could lead to me losing everything I've done throughout my career."
People will say, "Oh, he was beaten by Kell Brook," so I have to do everything right.
"That's why he was running up hills. I was so focused. He is the one I want to lose. The guy is not my favorite."
The Thursday press conference between Khan and Brook started off well, but quickly turned into a grubby slanging match with both men spreading rumours about each other's private lives.
Khan suggested Brook was racist for claiming he had a poppadom chin.
Brook claims it was an insult to his KO losses and not his family heritage.
If Mrs Khan gets her way, however, we will see Khan again in action.
He said, "She wants her husband back." He explained that he wanted his husband back. But, I kept telling him, "One more."
"I want to feel how I look and feel after I win this fight. Because if I perform as I believe I will, I'd like one or two more.
"There are some losses that I would like to avenge.
It is very difficult to be away from your family and children. If I don't put my head down, I forget all about having children, and I forget all about having a spouse.
Johnny Nelson, an ex-cruiserweight champion, hopes the pair will make a decision and call it a day.
He stated, "They will only be the stepping stones to the young people coming through."
"Common sense says that both the loser and the winner will say, "You know what?" "I've had a great experience, and I'm done."
It'll be hard work for the loser, and they might respond, "That's not my end," depending on how the loss was handled.
"But I hope that, unless they fight again, the winner and loser will say, "I had a great time." Britain, thank you.
"As an ex-fighter, would I want to continue after being defeated by my domestic rival?" No.
"Because I don't have any ambition. This tells you I'm only in it for the money. This is big money for both fighters, but also pride.
"The loser is just a stepping stone to the rich."
"Both of these fighters have taken too much pride in that."
