AMIR Khan insisted on Thursday he is happy to box as an amateur as speculation mounts that the Olympic silver medallist will soon move into the professional ranks.

The 18-year-old has pulled out of Saturday's ABA Championship quarter-finals at the Ocean Room in Gorleston, ostensibly after a row over the allocation of tickets.

Khan told Sky Sports News: "Am I turning professional? Not that I know. Asif (Vali, his manager) and my dad are talking to people but nothing has been said.

"I'm still amateur and I'm looking forward to staying amateur and boxing."

Earlier reports suggested Khan has taken a step closer to turning professional after a row with the sport's amateur governing body over ticketing.

Khan, who recently signed a four-year deal worth £70,000 to keep him amateur until the Beijing Olympics in 2006, verbally withdrew from Saturday's ABA Senior Championships when organisers refused to switch to a larger venue.

The fight was due to take place in the 800-capacity Ocean Rooms in Great Yarmouth, but Khan's team claim over 300 supporters were ready to make the trip, and only 10 tickets had initially been offered to them.

Many boxing insiders see the decision to pull out of the championships as the first step to Khan becoming a professional fighter, and Khan's manager Asif Vali said the ABA should have intervened.

He said: "Beijing is a long, long way away. We're going to get massive hurdles and hurdles like this we have to overcome.

"And if we don't get the support from the governing bodies, how can we continue supporting the ABA at an amateur level when there is so much press interest in Amir Khan. How can we keep that amateur status?

"It's a two-way thing. They've got to work with us and we've got to work with them."

Despite Khan's last two fights attracting a combined attendance of over 7,500 people, with estimates of the Bolton boxer's support ranging from between 700 to 1,000 for each fight, organiser Glen Miller said there was not enough time to switch the venue.

He said: "It is about 22 boxers, not the Amir Khan show. We took this venue on at short notice about five weeks ago.

"We made available to each boxer 10 tickets to start with. Paul King (the ABA North West Secretary) said if any clubs don't want their allocation can Amir Khan have them? I said some, because we have got to be fair to the other clubs.

"Another club in Liverpool have been allocated 25 tickets, and he (Khan) has been allocated 45.

"Amir Khan was not in the quarter-finals until Friday, February 18. He did not win until that evening. Who could change a venue at seven days' notice?

"You have got to go on facts, not possibilities."

Although Khan will appear at a fundraising show for his club on April 16 at the Reebok Stadium, many have speculated that it may be his last appearance as an amateur boxer. Promoter rank Warren is a well-known admirer of the 18-year-old, and has already registered his interest in taking him to the paid game.

But Khan's father Shah said no decision had been made to turn professional, and that he was only competing in the ABA Finals to allow his UK fans to see him fight.

He said: "Amir had nothing to prove. The only reason he was competing in the ABAs was to please his fans who supported him during the Olympic Games and wanted to see him compete.

"If they can't watch him, then why should he compete?

"He is still an amateur boxer and is looking forward to the club show, which will be held around April 16. He will also possibly compete in a match against Cuba.

"He's not going to turn professional because of this, not for the moment anyway.