Boxing: Khan do

Tonight Khan fights for the first time as a professional, in his home town of Bolton, and once he steps through the ropes - in a bout which is live on ITV - he will have finally finished with his amateur career. Khan admits that walking away from the glory of the Olympics and an eight-year amateur career has been a lot harder than he expected.

Less than 12 months ago Khan was an unknown 17-year-old student from Bolton. He was destined to be Britain's only fighter at the Olympics, but in many ways Athens was meant to be only a trial for the Beijing Games in 2008.

Before last summer's event started Khan and the people surrounding him spoke of winning once or twice, and then preparing for gold in China.

However, it was obvious from his second fight, when he beat the European champion, Bulgaria's Dimitar Stilianov, that Khan's Olympics were going to be four years earlier than planned. He lost narrowly in the final to the Cuban Mario Kindelan, but it was a defeat that he reversed in front of six million viewers on ITV two months ago in what was surely the most watched screen test in history.

"In many ways the Olympics seems like a long time ago, but whenever I sit down and watch any of the fights I could still remember the punches just a second before I threw them," Khan said.

Once the Olympics had ended and the boxer returned with the type of fanfare generally restricted to gold medallists, the pursuit of his signature on a contract started. It was inevitable that the winner of the race would be Frank Warren. The pair have been in business together for two years but tomorrow night will be their first public outing together and the pressure is on.

"I've heard some people say that it was easy for me to turn pro and walk away from the Commonwealth Games and the next Olympics but they are wrong," said Khan. "If it was easy I would have turned professional back in September and started making money straight after the Olympics. I've had to sit down with my dad and the rest of the people that I listen to and consider every possible option, and it's not been easy. But I know that I've made the right decision because right now I believe the time is right and that British boxing is ready for me."

Since losing to Kindelan last August, Khan has boxed five times and on each occasion he has been at the centre of public scrutiny. Not all of the performances have been of Olympic quality, and getting used to the criticism has not been easy for the teenager, who has admitted to being shocked when reading critical reports of his fights.

"I've grown up quick since coming back from the Olympics and I'm starting to look at everything in a different way, because that is the way it has to be when you are a professional," he said. "I have to realise that boxing is now a job, a career and something that I will do until I retire."

The plan, according to Khan and his people, is for the young boxer to win a world title or two and retire unhurt, with £50m in the bank, in just five years' time. It is the same plan that a thousand hopefuls have had over the past 30 years, but few come anywhere near realising it. Warren, though, is confident that Khan can achieve something truly remarkable.

"Watching and listening to Amir during the last few months has convinced me that he is capable of changing the face of British boxing," he said. "He is not just a fantastic kid, he's also a role model for young British kids of all colours and races. And that is something that boxing and British sport so desperately needs."

Khan has been reluctant to spend much time discussing last week's atrocities in London, but he has made it clear that he found the news shocking and horrific. He has never denied or tried to hide the fact that he is a Muslim and, according to his father, there is no reason to start now.

The plan for Khan, and indeed boxing's future on ITV, is not yet clear but it seems that he will be attached to more meaningful championship fights and taken all over Britain, which makes a lot of sense. But, as Warren points out, Olympic success does not automatically qualify a boxer for success in the professional business and because Khan, at 18, is so young it will probably be a long process turning the star from Athens into a genuine world-class professional.

"People keep warning me that boxing as a pro is a lot different form of boxing than as an amateur and I know that they are telling the truth," said Khan, "but there are certain things that I do that I will still be able to do and there are other things that I am learning that I'm confident will make me a much better fighter."

Khan insists he will be patient and that he will be able to wait for a title once his professional career has started. But he has also admitted in the past to keeping a close eye on the top British boxers at or about his weight.

"I've not gone pro to just make up the numbers and be an attraction," he said. "I've gone pro to win major titles and find out just how good I can be."

Warren has developed many high-quality professionals, but he believes that bringing Khan along will be difficult. He said: "There is a lot of pressure on both of us and some of it, in my opinion, is unnecessary, but we will both do what we have to do and hopefully during the next few months and years Amir Khan will achieve everything that he possibly can. But it will not be as easy as people think."

Khan has walked away from a college course and turned his back on his amateur days to concentrate on the real business of boxing. He clearly understands that it will not be easy to become as big a name in the future as he has been during the last year.

"I've been waiting for this night for a very long time," he said in the run-up to tonight's fight, "because I've known since I was a small kid and first went to a boxing gym that I would be a world champion. For me it's like starting all over again and I loved it enough the first time and I'm sure I'm going to love it even more this time."

It all begins with a four-round fight against David Bailey, 24, whose ring record is three wins from seven starts in the super-featherweight division. But the London fighter is brave, strong and better than his record suggests. A southpaw, like seven of Khan's last 11 opponents, Bailey has never been stopped and two of his four defeats were by a single point. Six of the seven men he has fought had winning records and it is extremely unlikely that six of Khan's first seven opponents will have the same.

Bailey is receiving a career-high purse of £5,000, but it seems rather small compared to the thousands in attendance and the millions watching on television.

Going professional: Britain's hits and misses

Losers

George Collins

Won eight amateur titles before turning professional at 17, but retired from the ring at 22 without having won a professional title.

Errol Christie

The Coventry-born fighter won 10 British amateur titles and the European Under-19 title but in 10 years as a professional fighter he never managed to win a title.

Michael Carruth

Won multiple Irish amateur titles and an Olympic gold medal in 1992 but left the professional game after six years without winning a title.

Winners

Richie Woodhall

Won Olympic bronze in 1988, Commonwealth gold in 1990; as a professional he won the Commonwealth and European middleweight and the WBC super-middleweight titles.

Robin Reid

Won Olympic bronze in 1992 and WBC super-middleweight title in 1996, and next month fights Jeff Lacy for the IBF version in Florida.

Carl Froch

The first English boxer to win a medal at the World Amateur Championships, when he took bronze at middleweight in 2001, and is currently unbeaten in 16 fights as a professional. The current British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion.