Born 29 years ago in Bolton, it was quite obvious to many who watched Amir Khan to know he was predestined for boxing greatness. First taking up boxing at the age of 11, his early honours included school and junior ABA titles, but by far the most impressive was his gold medal at the 2003 Junior Olympics.

He also collected junior medals in internationally-accredited tournaments in Lithuania and South Korea as well as compiling a respectable amateur record of 101-9.

But it was his runner-up finish during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where he exploded onto the world stage of lightweight boxing. Despite his loss to the Cuban Mario Kindelan, at the age of 17 he became the youngest British Olympic boxer since Colin Jones in 1976.

In his professional career to date, Khan has won multiple belts and famously rose to the occasion in numerous victories against Chris Algieri, Marco Antonio Barrera and Carlos Molina.

More sport stars birthdays on this day:

1962: Steve Elkington, Australian golfer, who spent more than 50 weeks in the top of the official World Golf rankings, boasting ten PGA Tour wins in the 1990s (54).

1981: Philip Rivers, American quarterback who features for the San Diego Chargers, and is ranked fourth all-time in consecutive starts by a quarterback in NFL history (35).

1985: Josh Donaldson, American third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays. Voted as MVP for his impressive form in the 2015 MLB season (31).

1994: Raheem Sterling, English winger who plays for Manchester City. Notably awarded the ‘Golden Boy’ for his Liverpool exploits in 2014 (22).