When you think about boxing in the city of Bolton, the first name to come to mind is former world champion Amir Khan. Khaleel Majid wants to be the next name, and he’s off to a good start with the fans in his hometown, who have come out in droves to see the junior welterweight prospect.

And while he’s taking his show on the road this weekend for a 40-minute drive to the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester for a bout on the Joy Joyce-Filip Hrgovic card against fellow unbeaten Alex Murphy, his fans are coming with him.

“Honestly, the support is amazing, and I can't thank people enough,” Majid said. “For this fight alone, to this day I've done like a thousand tickets and I'm still doing tickets. So the support has been unbelievable and that's for all my fights. I'm very thankful and I'm very in debt to my supporters. I never call them fans; I always call them supporters.”

Those supporters packed the Bolton Whites Hotel for his last two bouts against Alin Florin Ciorceri and Ramiro Garcia Lopez as he raised his perfect record to 14-0 with four knockouts, and in a boxing world always searching for the local hero that can go nationwide and then worldwide, the 27-year-old shows the potential to be that guy. So why does everyone in Bolton love Khaleel?

“I don’t know, you tell me,” he laughs before giving his humble take on the matter. “I don't want to sound bigheaded, but I've come up with grassroots boxing from the small halls and I've built myself a great support system, which has helped me on the big stage. I'm just a normal working-class lad that is just trying to achieve my dreams and go far.”

He’ll make a good dent in achieving those dreams should he get by the 13-0 Murphy in the first 10-rounder for both.

“I think this is my biggest step up in my career,” said Majid. “The gentleman I'm fighting is 13-0 and I’m 14-0. We're both undefeated, the winner will progress, and I believe I'll be the winner, God willing. And I want to really push my career this year. Last year, there was a lot of inactivity due to injuries and my mom being unwell, but this year I'm going to kick on and pick up from where I left off in 2023.”

In 2023, Majid went 3-0 with two knockouts and was garnering plenty of buzz in UK circles. But he only made the walk once last year when he defeated Ciorceri, and when his mom took ill, that added to his woes. But as mom recovers, Majid is getting back to business, with the win over Lopez in February kicking off what he hopes will be a busy 2025. And while he didn’t make his usual trip to California to work with Buddy McGirt in order to tend to matters at home, the renowned trainer will be in his corner this weekend.

“Buddy’s with me through thick and thin,” said Majid, who has been with McGirt since shooting him a message more than two years ago.

“We had a phone call and he just said, ‘Look, come out and have a session and just see if it works.’ So he gave me a session and from the first session we clicked and that was over two years ago. Time flies.”

It does, especially for a young boxer on the rise. Few will forget Khan’s rise from local kid to the Olympics to superstardom as a pro, and Majid certainly was watching.

“He has paved the way, most definitely, for people like myself and the South Asian community coming through,” said Majid, who is of Pakistani descent. “He was a world champion and got to achieve unbelievable things and, God willing, one day I hope to do the same.”

He’s on his way. All he needs to do is keep winning, keep listening to McGirt, and keep packing venues. Sounds simple, it’s not, but Majid is quietly confident that he’ll get the job done.

“I'm just looking at one fight at a time, staying busy and, God willing, pick up my title this year,” he said. “That's my short-term goal. But I'm just very fortunate that even though I've been inactive, the people have stayed with me. They've not jumped ship, they've not jumped on someone else. They’ve been with me through thick and thin.”