Monitoring Desk
LONDON: British welterweight Amir Khan threw water over opponent Phil lo Greco at a hostile news conference on Tuesday – reacting angrily to talk about his personal life.
Khan, 31, is preparing for his first fight in almost two years and the pair meet on 21 April in Liverpool.
At a heated pre-fight promotional event, Lo Greco pointed to Khan’s family issues and marital difficulties since his defeat by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in May 2016.
The former world welterweight champion responded by throwing water at the Canadian, prompting an on-stage melee.
Lo Greco said: “After the Canelo loss you went on a losing streak – family, wife and then you go out and tweet to the heavyweight champion of the world. What is wrong with you, mate?”
Lo Greco’s reference was to a tweet Khan sent to Anthony Joshua in August 2017. It concerned his own marriage and the 31-year-old later apologised to the British heavyweight for sending it.
After security had calmed the clash on stage, promoter Eddie Hearn asked Canadian fighter Lo Greco to apologise, while Khan later said his rival’s behaviour would serve as motivation to “give this guy a beating”.
The Bolton boxer, who has won 31 of his 35 professional bouts, has signed a three-fight deal with Matchroom after ending a long-running feud with promoter Hearn.
