ATHENS, GREECE - He is small, a child of immigrants, British and fights as a featherweight.
It's the return of Prince Naseem Hamed right?
Wrong.
His name is Amir Khan and he is not only Great Britain's newest boxing sensation, but also the country's only Olympic representative in the boxing competition in Athens, Greece.
Amir was only a 13-year-old high school freshman when Audley Harrison won a gold medal in Sydney four years ago in the Super Heavyweight division.
Now 4 years later at the young age of 17, Amir will be Britain's youngest Olympic boxer since Colin Jones in 1976.
And that's where the potential records just begin.
If Amir were to capture the gold medal, he would have done it before boxing's greatest of all time Muhammad Ali, who captured gold at the age of 18.
Amir was considered too young to compete in the Amateur Boxing Association’s senior championships, so he had his eyes set for the next Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
However the youngster ended up entering the Olympic qualification tournament when the British Olympic Association heard rumors of offers for Amir to fight for Pakistan and the United States.
"Going to the Olympics is like a dream come true - I've always wanted to go," Amir told the BBC. "I expected to go to Beijing in 2008, but I've got the chance now and I'm going to take it."
A graduate of Bury Amateur Boxing Club, he qualified for Athens by winning the Strandja Cup tournament in Bulgaria.
Now at the Olympics, Amir is now fighting in the highly competitive 60kg category, previously won by future hall of fame inductees: Oscar De La Hoya and Pernell Whitaker.
The odds of Amir capturing the gold are slim, despite the overwhelming coverage complementing his impressive skills.
So in order to reach the top, Amir will have to face many tough and more experienced fighters in a lightweight division that includes the 2000 Olympic gold medallist Mario Kindelan of Cuba.
Nevertheless, the mature junior champion remains confidently at ease.
"Mario Kindelan is the man to beat in Athens," Amir agrees. "I lost to him in the pre-Olympic tournament in Athens but it was very close. If I meet him again, I think I can beat him."
Former WBC super-middleweight champion Richie Woodhall agrees.
"Amir is good enough to go all the way," he says. "At 17, he's as good if not better than (former WBO featherweight champion) Prince Naseem Hamed was at the same age."
Son of scrap metal merchant, Amir began boxing at the young age of 8-years-old.
"I was a really hyperactive kid and my dad says I was a born fighter," Khan remembers. "I got bored easily and was always fighting with other kids at school."
So as a result, his father Shajaad, brought Amir to Haliwell Boxing Club to keep him busy. The gym was located just around the corner from their home in Bolton.
After watching a recording of the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, Amir was hooked to the sport.
Amir's skills quickly developed, and with coach Mick Jelley by his side, he was already fighting competitively by the age of 11.
"Boxing came fairly naturally to me, but I have had great coaching from Mick Jelley at Bury," says Khan. "Boxing has changed my life and kept me focused. All my energies are used up at the gym."
Within six years he has won three English school titles, three junior ABA titles, gold at the 2003 Junior Olympics, gold at this year's European Championships and gold at last month's World Junior Championships in South Korea.
Despite luring offers to turn professional, Amir, who is studying sports development at Bolton Community College and plans to go to university, also wants to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"I'm still on a learning curve and hopefully at the next Olympics I'll be a lot more mature and a lot stronger," Amir says. "I'll also have a lot more pressure on me because I'll be more experienced and tipped for gold."
Amid dreams of competing in the Olympics and winning gold medals, Amir still strives for bigger and loftier goals.
"I was once compared to a young Muhammad Ali which was very flattering," Amir recalls. "He's my main hero, so it's good when people say things like that. My ultimate ambition is to be the world champion and to become a boxing legend."
At press time, Amir stopped Greek Marios Kaperonis in his lightweight boxing opener.
He took just three rounds to see off his opponent 32-12 in the Peristeri Boxing Hall.
