HAROON Khan is getting a taste of the pressure faced by big brother Amir.

A broadcasting unit was among the larger-than-expected media turnout for the opening round of the Golden Gloves schoolboy tournament - and all because Haroon was boxing.

And he proved he can handle the pressure as well as his Olympic silver medallist sibling by easing to a comfortable win under the spotlight at The Larches Social Club, Preston.

Haroon - watched by Amir - outpointed Blackpool's Thomas Arnfield in their Class B (Under 15s) East Lancashire 42kgs final.

The 13-year-old from Bury ABC, who is also tipped for a great career in the sport, won with plenty to spare as he started his bid to add to last year's Four Nations schoolboy title.

His next bout will be in the Golden Gloves North West Counties finals at Childwall High School, Liverpool, on Saturday, February 12.

Amir, 18, presented the trophies to the boxers at Preston.

Altogether 58 boys in the East Lancashire division have entered the new Golden Gloves competition, which has replaced the national schoolboy tournament this year.

A total of 13 semi-finals and finals were held at The Larches with another nine finals taking place on a dinner show at The Cliffs Hotel, Blackpool.

Among those in action at the seaside was Salford's Callum Dorrian, whose older brother, Liam, is lined up to meet Amir Khan in the senior ABA championships at Preston Guild Hall on Monday, February 7.

Southpaw Callum went out of the Golden Gloves at the first hurdle, outpointed by Boarshaw's Chasiah Burton.

Mottram and Hattersley's Kieran Maher, the only local winner in the inaugural national novice cadet finals last month, got off to a winning start in the Golden Gloves.

He outpointed Middleton's Liam Taylor in his semi-final at Larches and blooded the nose of Ross Stratton (Northside) as he also got the verdict at The Cliffs.

Results of the East Lancashire round of the Golden Gloves (on points, unless stated):

Minors (born 1993): 32k Jordan Killeen (Larches and Savick) b Oliver Ellard (Bolton Lads) rfc, 36k Marcus Morrison (Northside) b Jack Catterall (Chorley).

Class 1 (born 1992): 44k John Turner (Northside) b Lee Hindson (Penrith). Class 2 (born 1991): 38k Semi-final Mark Heffron (Boarshaw) b Thomas Bloom (Northside). Final: Heffron b Shakeeb Ali (Audley Blackburn) rfc 2nd. 40k Ashley Mayall (Oldham Boys) b Adrian Gonzales (Olympic, Ashton), 42K Haroon Khan (Bury) b Thomas Arnfield (Blackpool and Fylde). 46k Semi-finals: Grant Brown (Boarshaw) b Ben Roscoe (Droylsden) and Paul Shaw (Ancoats) b Andrew Lee (St Boniface, Salford), Final: Brown b Shaw. 57k Semi-finals: Kieran Maher (Mottram and Hattersley) b Liam Taylor (Middleton Select), Ross Stratton (Northside) b Thomas Dunn (Preston and Fulwood). Final: Maher b Stratton.

Class 3 (born 1990): 42K Jimmy Barker (Boarshaw) b Kieran Farrell (Daubhill), 44k Semi-finals: Anthony Leake (Northside) b Adam Annand (West Wythenshawe), Jamie Quinn (Bredbury Stockport) b Jordan Bowes (West Wythenshawe). Final: Leake b Quinn. 46k Danny Connor (Oldham) b Luke Forde (Failsworth), 48k Kayden Goodman (Arrow) b John Conway (Northside). 50k Chasiah Burton (Boarshaw) b Callum Dorrian (Arrow), 57k Danny Boswell (Bolton Lads) b Alex Verey (Lancaster Lads). 60k Semi-final Spencer Southern (Oldham Boys) b Chris Betteridge (Larches and Savick). Final: Southern b Liam Fairclough (Droylsden) w.o.

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