In what is a major boost for boxing in Pakistan the younger brother of World champion Amir Khan's is set to fight for Pakistan at the Commonwealth Games after being overlooked by the British boxing authorities.
The 19-year-old has not been included in the English squad for the games, and his father feels that they had no choice but to make him available for the land of his family’s origin.
Amir’s father added that he was not turning his back on England but he had no alternative.
"There's no future for him representing England as they've got their podium squad and development squad, and he's not even on that," said Shah Khan.
"It's unfortunate but he's lucky he's got another route, which is Pakistan."
The Pakistan boxing authorities who have taken a look at Haroon Khan are very keen on including him in the national squad ahead of the games.
Vice President of Pakistan Boxing Federation Iqbal Hussain welcomed the news claiming that “Haroon’s inclusion will bolster our chances in the games, he is a very talented pugilist and his inclusion in the Pakistan squad is most certain to boost the morale of other national boxers”.
Haroon will join the Pakistani squad in a month or so to prepare for the games, as part of their program for October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Haroon’s father Shah Khan added that Pakistan’s Cuban coach is all praise for the dashing youngster who is set to pose a serious challenge for his champion brother Amir "He went there for trials and their Cuban coach was there," he said.
"He did some sparring with their internationals, and after they saw him he had a meeting and they said yes, we want to take him in."
Amir, who visited Karachi during an international tournament featuring more than 20 countries in January this year, was received warmly by the people of Pakistan, who treated Amir as their own.
Meanwhile Shah Khan is bewildered at the ousting of Haroon from the English squad, adding that he does not understand why his son is not being given a proper chance in England.
"If England doesn’t give him a chance what does he do?" he said. "I don't know why the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) isn’t having a look at him, is it because Amir has achieved so much and they don't want two brothers to do the same? I've no idea.
"I'm very bitter, I'm disappointed more than anything, we bent backwards to do whatever we could for the ABA but they've turned their back on Haroon."
Haroon who fights in the bantamweight category told English media that he had always dreamt of representing the United Kingdom, but he had "never had a look-in" with regards to being part of the senior squad.
But a spokesperson for Great Britain Boxing, which deals with Olympic boxing claimed that "Haroon is on our radar and if he boxes well in competition and shows significant progress then he could make it into the Podium squad and become a candidate for the 2012 Olympic team."
He also said that he plans to turn professional after October, so there was no prospect of representing Pakistan at the London 2012 Olympics, saying "it wouldn't feel right".
Haroon is also rated highly in the English ranks; an independent Boxing News ranking for all fighters placed him as the 10th best amongst the most promising boxers.
The youngster had competed in this year's ABAE Championships but was eliminated before the quarter-final stage.
The two English boxers who are in the national squad training full-time at Sheffield were ranked second and fifth.
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