By Terence Dooley
Amir Khan made a successful first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title by destroying first Brooklyn’s Dmitriy Salita, 27, at 1:16 of the first round in the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle last night.
Khan’s blistering speed and power proved too much for the New York-based Jew, who was also floored in the first round of his fights against Robert Frankel and Ramon Montano. The Bolton youngster must be delighted with the progress he has made since joining Freddie Roach in the aftermath of his sole professional loss, which, ironically, was a first round KO at the hands of Columbia’s Breidis Prescott.
Salita (140lb) came to the ring buoyed by an uplifting anthem but there was something of the frightened rabbit in the eyes of the former Golden Gloves winner, he looked like the kid at school who adopts a baleful glare in the face of a bully onto to be beaten down by his bigger foe. Conversely, Khan (139½lb) looked every inch the newly crowned champion as he soaked up the applause of the crowd.
Also, for all the pre-fight talk of religious overtones the only concession made to faith came on the trunks of both men; Salita, an orthodox Jew, wore the star of David; Amir, a devout Muslim, was decked in an Islam-green dressing gown and shorts.
Indeed, the ring walks lasted longer than the fight itself. It was over, to all extents and purposes, the moment Khan exploded a right hand, which had been disguised by a snappy left hook, onto the chin the chin of his opponent, who had denigrated Khan’s ability to take a shot during the run up to the fight.
Upon rising, Salita’s entire body went into survival mode; every cell in his being was fighting to stay in the contest only for this desire to be overcome by Khan’s superior fast-twitch fibres. Amir cornered his man and landed a left hook followed by a series of rights, Salita’s inability to claim his opponent forced referee Luis Pabon to jump in and issue another count.
Salita rose once again; his legs, however, were absent and he was harried across the ring, where a left hook from Khan, followed by a glancing right, dropped Dmitriy to his haunches and forced a final intervention from Pabon, who invoked the three knockdown rule.
Khan was jubilant; Salita, so confident during the build up, looked more embarrassed then hurt, his tale of triumph against adversity came to a crushing end here in England, it will be hard for the New Yorker to come back from this, though he can take heart from Amir, who has shown that a first round reversal can be overcome – and in style.
A dispirited Salita told the assembled press that it just wasn’t his night. “He is very fast, faster than the people I’ve fought”, said Salita, who is now 30-1-1 (16 early), “he did what he had to do and I never got the opportunity to get going. He has very fast hands and for the first knockdown I didn’t really see the punches coming.”
Amir, 22-1 (16 KO’s), has improved drastically since the Prescott loss; the young champion believes that the hours spent working with Freddie Roach paid off on the night. “We worked hard for the fight,” enthused Amir.
“We didn’t just work on going and knocking Salita out because we didn’t want to make mistakes. I’d like to say that he is a very respectful guy and I enjoyed the journey towards this fight. We are both humble, down-to-earth fighters and I’m sure he can come back and win a title.”
“We watched the Kotelnik fight and saw a lot of movement but we didn’t sit on the shots as much as we could,” he said when breaking down his performance. “Me, Freddie and Alex [Ariza] worked on sitting on the shots a bit more and getting the power, it gave me that bit more confidence and I’ve finished the year off with a good performance and defence of the title”
Khan, who had provoked a media storm by claiming that a lot of the negative publicity surrounding him stems from his skin colour, was rapturously received by the Geordie fans, who proved that Amir is well regarded here in the UK.
“The atmosphere was great,” declared Khan. “The Newcastle fans love a sports event and I could hear them in the changing room. They were very excited watching Kevin [Mitchell] fight and he warmed their blood up. I didn’t go in to try and win this fight in the first round, it just happened. The crowd were still there wishing me the best after the fight, so it shows that the support is strong.”
Pre-fight concerns had focussed on Salita’s size, there were claims that Amir would feel the strength of a full-blown light-welterweight for the first time, ludicrous really when you consider that Andreas Kotelnik successfully campaigned at 140lb for the majority of his career, and at the highest level. Khan had been unfazed by Salita’s physical presence.
“A lot of fighters think I’ve moved up and the power wouldn’t be there but moving up has made me fill out a bit. I can eat and am happy on the week of the weigh in. I’m a lot happier making this weight than lightweight. My team did a great job with me over the last nine weeks,” revealed Amir.
“I’m sure I’ve sent the message across and more fighters will think about fighting me. I want to fight the best. I’ve made mistakes in my career but have come back.”
Amir has talked about fighting in the USA during 2010; he feels that the win over Salita has put his name in the frame for fights against the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz. Khan, though, believes that megafights against men like Manny and Floyd Mayweather are still a long way down the line.
He said: “I’m still twenty-two and have not yet grown into my peak as a man. I’ve got the right team in America and it gets me away from all distractions, names like Mayweather are there for the future. I’ve just put in a good performance and don’t want to get distracted by jumping on the bandwagon for fights with Manny [Pacquiao] and Mayweather - I’m not ready for them at the moment.”
Indeed, Khan will do some sparring with Manny ahead of his P4P dust-up with Floyd; Khan believes that these rounds will help him gauge his own progress. “It is brilliant to help one of the best pound-for-pound fighters get ready for the other one,” gushed Khan.
“Freddie asking me for that help just gives me more confidence. When I sparred with Manny the first time it was after the Prescott fight, I want to see how I’ve come on since then. It will be great to share the ring with a great, great fighter. I’d rather be preparing for a fight myself as I’ll be getting into shape so I want to fight around the same time, that would be brilliant.”
Finally, Amir revealed that the chants from the Geordie fans had made it hard for him to justify fighting away from these shores but that the time has nearly come for his US debut. “After today’s reception you don’t want to leave England”, revealed Khan, “but it would be a good move to fight in the States sometime next year. I train there and people ask me in the gym when I’m going to fight there and I tell them, ‘soon’ - I think they’re bored of asking me now. I think I’ll shock the world when I go to America.”
Freddie Roach could barely contain his delight over the dominant nature of this win, the trainer had expected the KO to come but had envisioned a longer fight. “It happened quicker than I thought it would but I did feel that we had the power in the left hook and the right hand, and would get the knockout somewhere along the way,” revealed Roach, who then went onto discuss Amir’s next move.
“There is Marquez, Jose Luis Castillo is making a comeback and told me he wants to fight Amir, I asked him to spar Amir and he said ‘no’ as he wants to fight him. There are a lot of fights out there.”
One fight, though, is definitely not on Roach’s wish list. “I don’t want him and Pacquiao to fight each other,” declared Freddie, who did, nonetheless, make a single criticism of Amir’s performance. “Next time, I want him to wait until I get down the steps so I can see what is happening,” joked Roach.
Amir’s next task will be significantly more difficult than Saturday’s maiden defence; he is being drafted in to assist Manny with his Mayweather preparations. Roach cannot wait to see his two stars go at it.
“Manny is fighting a guy with speed so they will be working together,” beamed Roach. “Amir is going to help us with that fight. They can be good for each other, depending on who Amir fights next. Amir is not a sparring partner, he is a world champion, but he can help, I want [Andre] Berto also.
“Amir and Manny are like machines, they are the only people who can keep up with each other. I’ve been with Amir for a year now. I think he has great speed and has a bright future, he will be a multi-weight champion, and could even go to 160lb one day. A lot can happen between now and then but he has the potential to be a superstar.”
Frank Warren had been disappointed by some of the pre-fight media coverage, the promoter believes that his man is forced to defend his ethnic status by certain sections of the press, and that this treatment is unfair. Frank spoke to Boxingscene about the way Amir’s pre-fight claim that ‘Maybe if I was a white English fighter, I’d be a superstar in Britain’ had been misinterpreted by the press.
“It is very disappointing,” declared Warren. “I find some of the press annoying. Amir might sometimes anticipate a question because they keep asking Amir these questions and it is on his mind all the time. When the [July 7th 2007] bombings happened it was, ‘What is it like to be a Muslim’.”
“It annoys me,” he continued. “People keep asking him about it all the time. Did anyone ask Frank Bruno what it was like to be black man fighting in Britain? No one asked Joe Bugner, when he got booed quite a bit, what it is like to be a Hungarian fighter. I find it all strange.
“Amir is a British boxer, he won a silver medal for this country and has done fantastic for this country, the fans love him. I read now and again about boos, that a small section boos him, what about the majority, 99.9%, of the audience who cheer him. He is a great fighter, a British fighter and has just put on a great performance for Britain, what is it all about?”
Warren then revealed that Amir’s American dream is one that has been shared by almost every boxer the promoter has worked with. “What boxer doesn’t?” he answered when asked about Khan’s desire to box in the States. “Every fighter I’ve been involved with it was their ambition to fight at Wembley and then Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas, we will work on it.”
Indeed, Khan’s insistence on a US showcase has been read as a declaration that he is set to permanently quit the UK. Warren was bullish when asked if the press had misread Khan’s intentions. “It really pisses me off when some of this stuff is said. I find the negativity unbelievable,” fumed Warren.
“He will go and fight in the States. He knows that he has got great fans here. He has not fought in a football stadium yet. We’ve talked about fighting in Bolton at their ground [the Reebok Stadium], fill that place with 40,000 fans and you can imagine what the atmosphere will be like.”
Warren then moved onto the fight itself, celebrating the win whilst bemoaning the fact that we had only witnessed a tantalising glimpse of Amir’s improvement in this his third training camp under Roach’s watchful eye.
“It was a devastating performance and we didn’t get the chance to see him really,” said Warren. “He caught him early and it was all over very quickly - he has matured physically and looks so powerful now, it was a stunning performance. I think there are a couple of names out there that we can make. In the next couple of weeks we’ll sit down and decide who he is going to fight next.”
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