A British boxer was removed from an American flight because of the muzzle

British boxer Amir Khan has been removed from a flight in the United States after news of a row over the masks.

Khan, 34, said he and a colleague were taken away by police when a passenger complained that Khan's friend was not raising his mask "enough", the BBC reported.

The airline said the flight from Newark Airport to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport was turned back after two people reportedly "refused to comply with crew requests."

She denied that the police had intervened.

"Our customer service team is reaching out to Mr. Khan to learn more about his experience and to reinforce the importance of the policies implemented for the safety of our customers and staff," a company spokesperson said.

In a video posted on Twitter, Khan said he was heading to a training camp in Colorado after his stay in New York, adding that he was "disgusted" by the way he was treated.

"I was taken off the plane today when I was going to a training camp in Colorado Springs," the former lightweight world champion said. "Obviously a complaint was made by American Airlines staff, they said my colleague's mask was not high enough. And they had to stop the plane and get me and my friend out when I didn't do anything wrong."

"Now I have to reschedule my travel again to go back to training camp, which is really annoying, for no reason whatsoever, and I am so disgusted that [American Airlines] did that to us and prevented me from traveling."