European-Concentrate on blows, not the blower - Khan tells friend

By Justin Palmer BAKU, June 19 (Reuters) - British bantamweight boxer Qais Ashfaq hopes some advice from friend and former world light welterweight champion Amir Khan will go a long way to helping him land European Games gold. Khan, who won Olympic silver as a 17-year-old and has a professional record of 31 wins and three losses, told Ashfaq to stay away from the temptations of social media before his fights. The Leeds-born amateur, who won a Commonwealth Games silver medal last year, has so far heeded those words having put his phone away. "Amir is a friend of mine and he rang me up when I was in Glasgow competing in the Commonwealth Games to tell me off and say I was spending too much time on my phone," said Ashfaq who was 11 when Khan won his Olympic medal and watched on in awe. "I spend a lot of time on there playing games but it's mostly Facebook and Twitter," he told reporters. "So now for five hours before my fights I have banned myself from using my mobile. "I realise it's more important not to get distracted and to focus on my preparations for each fight." Ashfaq, 22, has won two bouts in Baku to earn a quarter-final meeting with Germany's Omar El-Hag. "I've boxed the German before and beat him but he's a tough kid. I'm confident I can get the win though," he said after overcoming Turkish fighter Selcuk Eker on Friday. "I have not come to this tournament for anything less than that gold medal. Obviously qualifying for the world championships is one of the main reasons we are here but once I have done that it will be the icing on the cake to win the gold medal." (Editing by Tony Jimenez)