Amir Khan admits that he feels 'really bad' about a public spat in which he accused fellow boxer Anthony Joshua of sleeping with his wife.
Khan, who retired from boxing earlier this year, went on a bizarre social media outburst in 2017 and labelled his wife Faryal Makhdoom as a 'golddigger'. Tweeting at Joshua, he wrote: "Faryal moved on quick. Always mentioned to me how much she wanted to be with another guy, from all people another boxer."
He later tweeted: "Mans like Joshua can have my leftovers". Joshua has always denied the claims and five years on, Khan spoke out about the row on Gary Neville's YouTube channel The Overlap.
READ MORE : Gary Neville gushes about 'best pasties in the world' as he visits bakery with Amir Khan
The 35-year-old, from Bolton, admitted that Joshua 'did nothing wrong' and said that he 'lost a good friend' over the incident. He said: "I had the problem with Anthony Joshua which I feel really bad for because at the end of the day I put him in the firing line for no reason.
"He was a friend of mine and since then we’ve not spoken so I lost a good friend through that as well. The guy did nothing wrong and I kind of just stuck it on him really.
"Me and my wife weren’t talking and she sent me a message saying ‘so many fighters are messaging me’ and because she sent me a message of Anthony Joshua saying ‘hi’ to her or something, I lost it. I said ‘who the hell is he, saying hi to my wife’. Nothing even happened but I just flipped out on everyone."
During the interview, Khan also opened up about how his mental health was suffering during that period of time after he injured his hand. "Mental health as well is a very big thing and it’s good that people have started talking about it," he said.
"It’s happened to the best of us from Tyson Fury and other boxers. I’ve had massive problems, back in 2016 I had a big fall out with my wife. I didn’t box, I had two years out of the ring, put on weight and wasn’t happy with myself.
"I had a hand operation and when I went back to training, it was still hurting me so I had three operations on it before it was alright and I really thought that I was never going to fight again. It kind of put me on a downer knowing that I’m at the peak of my career but I can’t fight."
Khan admitted that it was because of his mental health issues and personal arguments that he decided to go on reality TV show ' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here '. He added: "I had a fall out with everyone; my family, everyone in my life, I walked away from everyone.
"I saw a lot of money going missing and I was thinking ‘why’s it going here’ and at the same time some problems happened with the wife and stuff you’ve probably read in the media. I was stuck in the middle, I was getting pressure from both sides.
"As the person who made the money, I’m the one who’s getting all the problems. I just wanted to get away and it sent me a bit cuckoo.
"[My wife] found it hard because she’s from America and moved to Bolton with no family and friends. It was hard for my family as well, to accept someone else in and she wasn’t getting on with them so I was stuck in the middle.
"That’s why I went on I’m a Celebrity because I needed to get away from all the pressure. I didn’t do it for the money. I did it because I wanted to get away from everything and be me. I was around so much drama."
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