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• The Bolton-born boxer said he ‘could see the barrel’ of the gun pointed at him
• Gunman Dante Campbell, 20, forced him to hand over guard duty in Leyton

Former world boxing champion Amir Khan feared his “children would grow up without their father” during the gunpoint robbery of his £70,000 diamond-encrusted watch.

The 2004 Olympic silver medalist, 36, was attacked as he and his wife Faryal Makhdoom, 31, were leaving the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London, on April 18 last year.

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how gunman Dante Campbell, 20, forced Khan to hand over his diamond-encrusted rose gold Franck Muller watch, valued at between £60,000 and £70,000, which was given to him after a boxing match .

The Bolton-born boxer previously told court the robber pointed a gun at his face and said: ‘Take off your watch.’

Khan, who retired last year with a professional record 34 wins from his 40 fights, now opened up about the ordeal in an interview with the Sun on Sunday.

“At that point, you think the worst… that the children might be growing up without their father, that Faryal would be raising them on her own,” she told the newspaper.

‘Your life flashes before your eyes. I tilted my head to the right because I thought, if he’s going to shoot me, he can shoot me in the side of the head. I don’t want to see the bullet coming.

Gunman Campbell, from Hornsey in north London, and getaway driver Ahmed Bana, 25, from Tottenham, admitted conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of an imitation firearm during a trial at the Court of Snaresbrook Crown.

They will be sentenced on a date to be determined.

On Friday, Ismail Mohamed, 24, of Edmonton, and Nurul Amin, 25, of Harringay, were unanimously acquitted by a jury of conspiracy to rob Khan.

Prosecutors had claimed that Mohamed and Amin were acting as “observers”, dining at the restaurant to track Khan’s movements and relay them to Bana by phone.

Khan, who has been confirmed for the upcoming I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Star ITV series in South Africa, said: ‘It was the first time I ever saw a gun in my life. I could see down the canyon.

‘I remember looking back and seeing where my wife was. She ran back to the road and yelled “help!”

‘At the time, I didn’t know what I wanted. I thought maybe this is a joke. I just took off my watch, he grabbed it.

He added: “People said afterwards: ‘You should have fought them.'” Are they stupid? I have a family. It’s just a clock. My life means more to me.

‘When you have children, you make it a priority to make sure they are well cared for. I am the breadwinner of the family. If I were with the children, I don’t know what I would have done. Maybe he would have panicked and tried to run.

His wife reportedly added: “I thought we were going to die on the spot.”

Khan said he had been shopping in the Knightsbridge area while his influential wife did a photo shoot before the couple dined with their friend Omar Khalid, breaking their Ramadan fast.

The robbery, which lasted just a few seconds, occurred after they had left the restaurant.