«ATHLETES ARE GOING TO BE THE NEW MEDIA STARS»

As much as the promotion and the media have tiptoed around the fact that Khan, the WBA's light-welterweight champion, is a Muslim and Salita, his mandatory challenger, is an orthodox Jew, there was no escaping the issue in a respectful and dignified meeting.They meet in Newcastle on 5 December, long enough after sunset to conform with Salita's strict religious observance of the Jewish Sabbath. "Amir is an excellent boxer with a great amateur pedigree," the unbeaten New Yorker, born in Ukraine, said. "I have respect for Amir inside the ring and outside the ring, 100%. This is what we have been doing since we've been kids. In the ring it doesn't make any difference who you are, what you are. It's just two guys punching each other."The media shouldn't make something out of this that it's not. If anything, it's a positive event, where two people from different backgrounds come together."Khan said: "He's a nice guy. Boxing is a sport and we respect each other. It's a fight I wanted as much as Salita wanted. Going into this fight there's only one thing on my mind – to win the fight, regardless of the religion."
As the promoter, Frank Warren, observed, "If you could end wars in the boxing ring, there'd be a lot of happy mothers around. These are two very, very nice guys."

-The Guardian
Oct 26 2009