By Terence Dooley

Dmitriy Salita has stoked up the pressure ahead of his crunch clash with Amir Khan by branding the British boxer as ‘chinny’.  Salita, 27 and the holder of a 30-0-1 (16) record, told The Jewish Community online that Amir’s chin won’t be able to pass the power test come December the 5th.

“His chin is definitely an area of vulnerability,” declared Salita.  “It's not just because of Prescott that he's vulnerable.  He has been knocked down a whole bunch of other times.  I'm going to go in there to do my work and eventually he is going to get hit on the chin.  When he is, we'll see what happens.  He's been beaten before and he's going to get beaten by me.”

He continued: “I look forward to beating him.  I have to be on my A-game and be very sharp.  I need to stick to the game plan we have in place and with all the things we have worked on I feel it will be enough to take the belt.”

Salita’s power is questionable, he may have sixteen KO’s but the opposition has been modest to say the least.  However, the Brooklyn-based Jew has some heavyweight fans, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg recently sent out a message of support to Salita.

‘On behalf of our city I want to wish you the very best as you head across the pond.  New Yorkers know that with hard work and dedication the sky's the limit.  Throughout your stellar career you've always shown the fighting spirit that is so quintessentially New York, and is the reason so many world-class fighters have come out of the five boroughs.  As someone as devoted to faith - and your community - as you are to the ring, you're also setting a wonderful example for others.  We're very proud of you, and we look forward to welcoming you back to New York City as the new Junior Welterweight Champion of the world!  All the best,’ wrote Bloomberg.

Still, this is a huge test for Salita, he fighting away from home and against a boxer, in Khan, who is vastly improved under Freddie Roach; it will be a stiff test for Dmitry but you never know what you are going to get with an undefeated fighter - witness Andre Ward’s ownership of Mikkel Kessler on Saturday night for proof of this fact.  Salita could shock the fans at the Metro Arena, Newcastle by ripping Amir Khan’s career to pieces, torpedoing a Khan-Hatton domestic blockbuster in the process.

Tickets for the fight are priced at £30, £40, £50, £85, £125, £200 and £300, and are available from www.metroradioarena.co.uk and www.seetickets.com .

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