Tonight in Newcastle, England, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan needed just 76 seconds to see off Dmitriy Salita, knocking the New York based Ukrainian down three times in the process.
With both fighters promising victory beforehand, the fight was expected to at least be competitive, and the cool manner of both fighters pre-fight did nothing to dispel that. Sailta looked calm and confident as he entered the huge arena to a sea of boos, but the undefeated number one contender seemed unfazed.
Unfortunately for Salita, the very second the bell for round one rang that all changed as the very first left-right combination from Khan dropped him on the seat of his pants. There had barely been time to blink and already Salita was in dire trouble. He rose unsteadily, and although clearly shaken resumed the fight. Khan swarmed him with punches, and after retreating right into the corner, Salita had nowhere to go but down once again. This time the knockdown was untidy, but clean punches landed nevertheless, and Salita couldn't cope.
It was almost a formality as Salita was allowed to continue for the second time, and Khan, like a predator with a wounded prey, opened up on Salita once more, culminating in a left hook that sent Salita to the canvas for the third time. Referee Luis Pabon didn't bother with the count, waving the action off at the 1-16 mark of the first round.
There were no protests from Salita or his camp, who knew there fighter was beaten. Salita took a while to recover in his corner, obviously still shaken up from the knockdowns, but it will take a while longer for him to get over the loss (his first) mentally. He can come back from this setback however and rebuild towards another title shot in the future.
As for Khan, there's talk that his next fight could be in America, possibly in the chief support to the huge Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on March 13.
"I didn't even start fast" said Khan "I just caught him with a good shot and he went down. I looked at Freddie (Roach) in the corner, and he was telling me to stay calm, but I could see in Salita's eyes that he was gone so I went in for the finish."
Asked what he wanted to do next, Khan seemed to indicate America was in his sights "I dont care who I fight next, but lets go to the States. I'll fight anyone!"
By CEI SMITH
