Shell-shocked Amir Khan reveals he spent £100,000 to find out how he failed a drug test

Amir Khan stood blinking in the pale sunlight of a cold London morning, bracing for the uproar following the announcement of his two-year suspension for failing a drug test.

He looked shocked as he described a year of turbulent emotions.

Factor in the “deep personal dismay” is his “mortification” that this should happen at a time when his beloved boxing sport is embroiled in multiple doping scandals and allegations.

The only consolation in an independent tribunal’s verdict is the finding that he did not intentionally ingest the banned substance ostarine.

“If it’s any consolation,” he says, somewhat disconsolately. Then he adds, “In my 27 years in the ring as a boy, amateur and professional, I have never cheated. I have always been strongly against doping. ‘

The failed drug test came after his devastating defeat to domestic rival Kell Brook

A great irony is that he finds himself suspended now having already left the ring following his sixth round KO loss to Kell Brook 14 months ago. At the end, he gave the fateful urine sample.

The former two-time world light welterweight champion says: “That would always be my last fight. I had no plan or intention to come back. I have moved on with my life in business, my family and the charities I support. It’s weird that I get banned from something I don’t do anymore. But it still hurts. A lot of.’

Khan then reveals that he invested heavily in medical and legal advice when he was first informed of the test result, although he did not dispute the finding. He says: ‘I spent over £100,000 on that advice trying to figure out how it got into my system. One of the possibilities they came up with was through a handshake. There was a whole crowd of people in my dressing room after the fight and I’m a friendly man who always shakes hands.’

He knows that explanation can be ridiculed as humorously as the response to claims that Conor Benn’s failure of two drug tests was caused by eating too many eggs. But there is one important difference between them.

“At no point did I doubt the validity of my test,” says Khan. ‘It is what it is. I take my responsibility, because maybe I should have taken even more precautions. The substance was there. That cannot be denied. Even if it was just a speck, described by an expert to me as equivalent to a single grain of salt in a swimming pool. I’ve done hundreds and hundreds of tests over the years with no flickering.

“I know people will question me, but I hope they will wonder why on earth I would have done this at the end of my career. Why I would have risked tarnishing my legacy in my last fight.

“I’m asking everyone to watch that fight with Kell again. It was the worst performance of my career. I was in the worst shape of my life as it came two and a half years after my last fight. Did it remotely look like I was on drugs?’

Khan raises an even greater irony – and with it an alarm about the icy pace and apparent chaos of UKAD drug testing in British sport – when he says: “It was I who pushed for drug testing before this fight. Like I always did before every fight. I have to say I did for this one too, because I wanted to make sure Kell was tested.

Khan has not questioned the validity of the test, but spent £100,000 to find out how the banned substance got into his system

“I was concerned when no inspector showed up during most of my training camp. I wondered if the same thing was going on with Kell. I’ve asked my team to inform UKAD about it, but they don’t show up until the last minute.’

There was a hint of exasperation, as in his memory of the only last time, drugs were a factor in one of his fights.

“I was the victim then,” Khan says of the October 2011 night in Washington DC when he was stripped of his world title by Lamont Peterson. The home city refereeing and judging caused huge controversy, but what followed was even more alarming. Peterson was found to have tested positive for a significant amount of performance-enhancing testosterone and admitted the violation.

The WBA reinstated Khan as champion and he says: ‘We had watched a lot of Peterson’s tapes but as soon as the fight started I knew I was facing a very different boxer to the one he had been before. He was bigger, stronger and hit harder than ever before.

“I still had to make the decision, but I also became even more aware of the threat of drugs in our sport. If there’s anything else against you ever using them yourself.’

The teenage hero of the 2004 Athens Olympics – who won silver as the only boxing member of Team UK – is distraught at the potential damage to his end of career and to the charities he defends. He says, “After all I’ve accomplished, I’d hate to be reminded of this.”

He had just flown back to London from a second home in Dubai when the bomb hit Tuesday morning. His wife, parents, siblings, and the entire family had championed this, but he says, “They’re all terribly upset, but very supportive. I am grateful for that.

“Of course I am aware that this comes at a difficult time for boxing, but I have to hope that the public will read the verdict and fully understand when it says that this was not intentional or intentional.”

Khan says he became even more anti-doping after Lamont Peterson tested positive for a banned substance after their 2011 fight

Khan, a powerful spokesperson for an improved Anglo-Pakistani relationship, will continue to speak at three charity dinners this week, in Birmingham and London. He awaits the reaction of the public with great interest.

He also continues his campaign for greater awareness of public safety in the streets following his gun robbery in East London, which saw his expensive watch ripped off his wrist.

“We all need to be on our guard and more attentive now,” he says, seeing another irony for himself in this painful moment. He will continue to promote the future of boxing in Pakistan, especially among young people in his parent’s homeland, saying, ‘My message to them about drugs and to young people everywhere coming into boxing will remain the same. Don’t take them. Never. regardless of temptation or pressure. You can not only harm opponents, but also yourself.’

Finally, one of the greatest British boxers of his generation says with a touching smile: ‘And take care. Good care. With everything.