Boxer Amir Khan says model Sumaira 'blackmailed' him to extort money

LONDON: British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan has said that an Asian bridal model, who hurled allegations at him, tried “blackmailing” him and “sold” her story to a British tabloid after he refused to pay her £20,000.

Khan hit back after Asian bridal model Sumaira accused him of cheating on his British-Pakistani wife Faryal Makhdoom by engaging in an explicit conversation with her over several weeks this year.

The boxer spoke to Geo News in an exclusive interview over the phone from his Dubai villa and gave his full version of what actually happened between him and model Sumaira.

Khan, who is in Dubai with his wife and three children, said that Sumaira had deleted lots of messages and showed only a selected few to The Sun newspaper which carried the original story in which the model made accusations against the boxer.

The boxer said Sumaira started talking to him on social media and told him she didn’t like her family and was looking away from them. The boxer said he asked her about the tattoos on her body and whether her faith permitted this.

Sumaira, according to the boxer, started sending her revealing pictures and went on to discuss that she wanted to have enhancement surgeries. Khan said she didn’t ask for any pictures and was not impressed by what the model was sending him.

He said: “All I replied was that you look good but really that wasn’t something I was impressed by. To be honest it put me off.”

When asked whether he asked the model “I can’t stop looking”, the sports star replied in affirmative saying he did so because she expressed her wish for him to say so as a way of compliment to make her happy.

“I wish you would say I can’t stop looking so I did. Then she sent a lot more and all I said was it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” he shared.

The boxer revealed that Sumaira then asked him for £20,000. When asked why, the boxer said the model told him that she wanted it as she wanted to “fix her hand as one of her hands is bigger due to some problem and she always hides it”.

The boxer said: “I said I can’t give you any money. Go get a job and it’s wrong if you want money.”

The Pakistani-origin striker added: “The reason she went to the paper was I didn’t want to give her money. Her story about her family disowning her did upset me but I knew she’s on the money thing and is a liar. I stopped messaging her.”

Khan rejected Sumaira’s allegation that he spoke against his wife Faryal Makhdoom or said that their marriage was a business relation.

“I told her I am happily married. Not once did we speak about me and Faryal being together for the TV show. I think all my followers on socials know we are together and very happy. I reacted to the pictures out of the blue she sent me because I wanted to not upset her. But it wasn’t something you would take a look at twice. I also said to her sort your life out and that you are a Muslim girl. I'm sure your family will help you. She spoke ill about her family and why she didn’t live with them,” he added.

Khan said Sumaira wanted to meet him and asked him when he was coming to the UK. He said they made no plan of meeting and there was no desire from his side.

The boxer further said that Sumaira had made up a lot of things to sell the story. He said: “I ended our conversation by telling her that I’m happily married. And yes in all relationships, you have ups and downs but we (Amir and Faryal) are cool in Dubai together with the kids. I feel sorry for people like Sumaira for what they do.”

Allegations

The Pakistani-origin British former light-welterweight world champion has once again found himself embroiled in controversy after allegedly engaging in explicit conversations with the bridal model.

Sumaira claimed that it was a 36-year-old boxer who reached out to her online and complimented on her tattoos, leading to a heated conversation about her appearance and the boxer suggested she had undergone cosmetic procedures.

The model alleged that Khan seemingly implied that he didn’t want to be caught doing anything inappropriate and deleted pictures. The conversation allegedly began when Khan commented on Sumaira’s tattoos on Instagram. When she expressed uncertainty about his intentions, he insisted he was serious and complimented on her appearance. Sumaira sent him a fully clothed picture displaying roses on her midriff, which apparently caught his attention. Sumiara claimed that it was Khan who encouraged her to send more pictures, claiming it was just a discussion about tattoos and that he had seen similar images before.

Sumaira also said that Khan invited her for a night out in London but she ignored his messages.

Khan told this reporter that he is very happy in his married life and chatting with women doesn’t mean infidelity or any wrongdoing.

Geo New has reached out to Sumaira and awaits her full version over the controversy.

Sources close to Sumaira have denied all allegations by Amir Khan. They said no money was exchanged and Sumaira never demanded anything from Amir Khan.