Amir Khan acknowledges that his actions led to the loss of a friendship with Anthony Joshua after he made accusations about his wife, Faryal Makhdoom.
In a bizarre Twitter outburst back in 2017, the boxing icon publicly labeled his wife as a “golddigger” and accused Joshua of having a relationship with her. Khan even went as far as announcing his intention to divorce Makhdoom, expressing his emotions on social media with statements like, “Left my family and friends for this Faryal. I’m not hurt, but another fighter. I’m making it public. You are going to get divorced. Joshua was not exempt from Khan’s Twitter tirade either, as he invited him to interact with his “leftovers” before taking down the posts.
Five years later, Khan—who had given up boxing after losing to Kell Brook in February—reflected on the incident and said he had not spoken to Joshua since. He disclosed, “I was going through a bit of a mad time myself,” in an interview with The Overlap. Khan went on, “I wanted to get away from my wife. I had an issue with Anthony Joshua, and I felt terrible about it because, in the end, I had put him in danger without any justification. I lost a close friend because of that; we have not spoken since. He was a friend of mine. Although the guy did nothing wrong, I still kind of got even with him.”
At the time, Joshua denied Khan’s accusations and ironically responded with a tweet that included a clip from Shaggy’s song “It Was not Me.” In response to a question regarding the rumors earlier this year, Joshua joked, “To be honest, I didn’t. I wish I had, given all the charges against me.”
A few months after the Twitter feud, Khan and his wife Makhdoom reconciled despite the turbulent period. He acknowledged that he was going through a trying time to The Overlap, saying, “I became too selfish.” I started making a lot of mistakes.” Khan recognized his behavior, stating, “I started turning nasty—becoming a bad person, really. It was never me, and I was never happy with myself doing all this stuff.” Deeply affected by the ordeal, Khan admitted, “I was really upset deep down. I was hurt, and I was in a very, very bad place.”
