Amir Khan, 35, won silver at the 2004 Olympics at the age of 17 and held welterweight titles from 2009 to 2012.
He has since lived the life of a celebrity, participating on the television show I’m A Celebrity. Get Me Out of Here and Into The Khans’ House.
At a news conference to mark his retirement on Monday, Khan said in comments reported in The Guardian: “People used to say: ‘We are Muslim, we are Asian, we can’t make it in boxing. We’re not going to be picked.’ It’s an excuse that all Asians use – that we’re never going to be picked.”
He continued: “Look at football, for example. There are no Asian footballers but guess what they all say? ‘We won’t get picked because we’re Asian.’ I think that’s a f***ing load of bull****, really. It’s a load of b*******. Asians, when we can’t to a certain extent, give up. We don’t have it in us.
“Look, us Asians are not really meant to be fighters. We’re not supposed to be good sportsmen and women. Our diet is appalling. It’s curries. It’s not the right diet to be a champion. If you put us against a lot of English fighters their diet is a lot better. They’re stronger than us.”
Equality groups described Khan’s comments as “baffling”.
“The sport sector has been working to become more anti-racist, progress is occurring but there is still a long way to go to undo systemic racism,” said Arun Kang, chief executive of Sporting Equals.
“It is baffling and extremely frustrating as Amir has now further reinforced stereotypes the British South Asian community has long fought to diminish.
“Such misinformed and misguided comments have caused greater harm to the community.”
Crawley FC terminated manager John Yems’ employment in May after he was accused of using foul racist language and segregating changing rooms along racial lines, a move regarded as “modern-day apartheid.”
Khan was unavailable for comment.
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