'Electric atmosphere' captured on TikTok as Amir Khan opens kebab shop
Boxer Amir Khan and fan Alvee Pritom at the launch of Ottoman Doner in Ilford - Credit: Sabir Ahmed
The atmosphere was "electric" as hundreds of people turned out to greet Amir Khan at the launch of a kebab shop in Ilford, according to one of the legendary boxer's fans.
Friends Sabir Ahmed and Alvee Pritom were at the front of the queue outside Ottoman Doner in Ilford Lane last Saturday, cheering as Khan turned up with his wife Faryal Makdoom.
The Bolton-born British professional boxer, promoter and philanthropist publicised his upcoming visit on the shop's Instagram page beforehand: "Come and check us out in Ilford. See you there."
Sabir told the Ilford Recorder: "The opening was at 3pm and we got there for noon.
"Despite being three hours early, there were still three ahead of us in the queue.
"It started building up and by 3pm it was chaos."
Apparently when Khan turned up, people started rushing towards his car and security had to intervene.
"All in all, the atmosphere was electric and the whole of Ilford Lane was buzzing," said Sabir, who added: "We wanted to meet him as he is a boxing legend.
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"He is a two-time world champion and Britain's youngest boxing medal champion.
"Like us, he is south Asian and British, and for him to represent Britain in boxing and the Olympics makes us proud."
The two friends bought a toaster beforehand that they asked Khan to sign, and they have now made a Tiktok video of him signing it.
"Khan was very welcoming of it and we managed to get a good reaction," said Sabir.
"We’re planning to sell the toaster and gain as much as we can from it.
"We know Amir Khan has a good sense of humour, seeing him in I’m A Celeb. We knew he would enjoy it.
As an amateur Khan became Britain's youngest boxing Olympic medallist in 2004 aged 17, and went on to win many professional matches.
He has taken part in several reality television and game shows, and appeared in the 2017 edition of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.
Khan has two daughters with Faryal Makhdoom who he married in 2013. Four years later the couple announced they had split up, but later stated they had reconciled.