BOLTON’S Khaleel Majid makes his return to the ring in an English title eliminator versus Alex Murphy on the ‘Heavy Impact’ card on April 5, presented by Queensberry promotions from the Co-op Live in Manchester.
Khaleel is coming off a 60-54 victory over Ramiro Garcia Lopez on February 21, making this a quick turnaround of just six weeks. However, Majid views this as a positive as he had to get straight back into camp and stay focused on the task at hand.
“You know 2024 was a bad year for me, but I’m thankful that I’ve been able to kickstart this year the right way with a victory and now it’s about capitalising and building some momentum in my career moving forward. All I want to do is stay active and put together a good run of form this year.
“Inactivity can kill careers, and we’ve seen it with fighters at the top level of the sport all the way down to people just starting out, so it’s vital to be active. God willing, now you’ll begin to see the best of me.
“I’ve got plenty of experience in boxing from the amateurs and I appreciate my professional career may not have taken off the way I would have liked it too but I’m still here and I’ll keep moving forward. I had a big win against Tom Farrell, and I was supposed to kick on but looking back on it I’m glad I didn’t. I trust God’s timing and I think I’m in a much better place now”.
Khaleel is not concerned with anything other than getting the win in good fashion on April 5 against Murphy, who is also from Lancashire. The possibility of being signed by Frank Warren with an impressive performance is another incentive that Khaleel is aware of but not focusing too much on.
“I think it’s important for me to give all respect and focus to the task at hand, which for me is my opponent in the ring. All the behind-the-scenes factors and decisions I leave to my team who I trust to make the best choices for me.
“When I was 20, I was actually going to make my debut with Frank Warren funnily enough. I have a picture of me with him at his office – but things didn’t work out at that time.
“I know there are massive opportunities for fighters right now as a part of Riyadh Season and we’re seeing the best fighters face off and that’s good for the sport, I’d love to work my way into that mix and show what I can really do.
“For me, it’s all about working towards my main objective, which is to be a world champion. It’s about staying disciplined and staying on weight, with my career being a bit start stop recently it was hard to find the motivation at times but that’s just a part of the game in boxing. This is a lifestyle, and you must be totally committed to it to succeed.”
Khaleel is from Bolton, just like the 2004 Olympic silver medallist and two-time super-lightweight world champion Amir Khan. He looks at the current mix of British Asian fighters having success in the sport and views this as further motivation to keep his name in the mix, believing this generation will leave its mark.
“There are a lot of British Asian fighters in the sport now, in the amateurs and professional ranks, who are making a lot of noise and making names for themselves. Of course, people like Prince Naseem and Amir Khan opened a lot of doors for the next generation to get opportunities. You’ve got Hamzah Sheeraz, Shabaz Masoud, Adam Azim and even Hamza Uddin, to name a few.
“I think its important for these fighters to succeed and set an example for the generation that follows, that’s normally how it works. It gives the younger kids something to aspire to and work towards and I’m glad to see they’re all doing well – fair play to them all.
“After April 5 I want my name to be in that mix of fighters. I won’t make a prediction on how the victory will come but God willing, it will be a masterclass performance from me”.
