Boxing Betting / Ralph Ellis / 19 June 2008 /

Harry Redknapp has criticised the work ethic of young English footballers; Vijay Singh says the up and coming British golfers don't practice hard enough; And while he's at the back end of his career there are still doubts about whether going on binge drinking sessions between bouts is the right way of living for Ricky Hatton.

So step up Amir Khan this morning as an example of a young English champion in the making who hasn't been sucked in by easy celebrity. Maybe it's something to do with being a Bolton fan and watching Sam Allardyce's use of technology during his occasional training sessions at The Reebok stadium. Maybe it's because he's got a strong family to keep him rooted in hard work. Whatever the reason he's clearly leaving nothing to chance in his pursuit of a world title.

The 21-year-old who made himself a star at the last Olympics reveals today that he's taken a leaf from Allardyce's book by embracing video analysis in his own training work every day at his gym in Bolton. He tells the Mirror's David Anderson that together with new trainer Dean Powell he's installed a series of video cameras throughout the building so they can have access to instant replays at any time in training or sparring.

This approach isn't new for many other individual sports. Tennis players and athletes have recorded training sessions for years using technology that can help them pick up errors in technique. When you see cricket teams studying laptops during a match they are employing the same software that can help spot subtle differences in a bowler's action to give clues on what's coming next.

It is pretty new for boxers though, and it's a sign of how seriously Khan and his camp are looking for every little advantage to help him be the best he can be. Khan says: "I'm told my gym is now one of a few in the world with this facility. We've got a camera in position on the wall and it just needs the flick of a switch to get it going. If we want we can pause it, rewind it or play it in slow motion just like a DVD.

"It's helped iron out small defects like dropping my hands when I should be keeping them up. We always watch the sparring session the day after it has taken place in the viewing gallery and it's been a great help in seeing little things I need to work on. I never want to make the same mistake twice and I go through every session with a fine tooth comb with Dean."

Khan's consistently finished fights quickly, and his hand speed together with a well honed technique should make him too much for Gomez in front of a 10,000 sell-out crowd at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena. You can back him at [1.44] to lift any of the world crowns before the end of this year, and that's a much better opportunity than the [1.08] for him to beat Gomez. I like the look of [5.1] for him to finish it in round three.

Five things you didn't know about Amir Khan

1. His family come from the Janjua Raiput clain of Maira Matore in Pakistan which has a
history of warrior kings

2. He was encouraged to take up boxing by his dad to try to deal with being hyper active

3. When he turned pro he said he'd be a world champion before he was 21 years old - a
target he's already missed

4. His silver in the Athens Olympics of 2004 made him Britain's youngest boxer at The
Games since Colin Jones in 1976

5. England cricketer Sajid Mahmood is his cousin - but Khan couldn't watch his Test debut
because he was in training for a fight

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