Khan on course for a dream title fight showdown

Khan took another step towards claiming boxing’s most prestigious accolade when he became unified light-welterweight champion with a fifth-round stoppage of Zab Judah at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre.

Accusations made by veteran American southpaw Judah that the knockout blow was low – replays suggested it was legitimate – failed to take the shine off a masterful display from the 24-year-old.

Judah was viewed as dangerous opponent capable of causing an upset, but he was outboxed and bullied by his younger rival and seemed to be looking for a way out from an early stage.

It was a highly impressive display from Khan, whose stock continues to rise on this side of the Atlantic.

“I’ll fight anyone and there are some big names out there for me. I’ll take a look at the short list,” said Khan.

“My aim is to move up the pound-for-pound rankings and to one day be pound-for-pound champion. I want to be the best fighter in the world.

“I’m still a fight or two away from there yet. At 25, I’ll fight at 147 pounds and see where we go from there.

“We just keep on collecting titles, that’s what we want to do. I’m only 24 and there’s a lot of improvement to come.”

Adding Judah’s IBF title to his own WBA belt proved surprisingly easy as a fighter who had mixed it among the best of his era – including Floyd Mayweather and Kostya Tszyu – was picked apart.

Judah was troubled by the hand speed and aggression of his opponent, who marched forward with intent throughout a dominant performance.

The straight left, Judah’s most dangerous shot, was hardly seen thanks to Khan’s movement.

The punch statistics showed Kahn landed 61 times to Judah’s 20 and by the fifth round he had won each session on all three of the judges’ scorecards.

When the end came it was shrouded in controversy with Judah, his left eye swollen and nose bleeding, claiming he had been felled by a low blow.

Locked in a tangle, Khan spotted an opening and drove a right uppercut through the middle that landed just above the waistline of the shorts.

The American went down and was counted out by referee Vic Drakulich with 13 seconds of the round remaining, resulting in jeers from his disgruntled supporters.

Khan, however, was content he had ended the contest legitimately.

“I don’t think it was a low blow. It was a clean shot and the referee was there,” he said.

“In my eyes it was a clean shot, just above the belt. Zab took the shot. It was a very hard shot and we’d been working on the shot throughout our camp. It happened naturally, I fired the uppercut and it worked for me.

“I felt sharp. The game-plan was to keep away from Zab’s powerful back hand, so we always had to move from it and we did that well.

“Zab’s very awkward, at times I was missing him and he’s one of the quickest fighters I’ve faced.

“I still think he’s got a lot in the tank, he’ll still win a world title.”

Judah thought Drakulich’s count was to give him time to recover from the low blow and only realised his error when it was too late.

He had absorbed a barrage of punches before the crucial punch landed and the lack of passion evident when later making his case suggested that he was happy enough the fight was over.

“I don’t make any excuses but that was a low shot,” he said. “I went down and the referee was counting, I figured he was counting for a low blow – the eight count to get myself together.

“But when I heard him say ‘nine, 10, it’s over’ I said, ‘what do you mean it’s over, it’s a low blow’.

“We’ll have the right people take a look at it. But Khan fought a good fight.”

The manner of victory has taken Khan closer to his dream showdown with Floyd Mayweather – pencilled in for late next year – and the Olympic silver medallist is inspired by the prospect.

“The Mayweather fight is something I’m looking at the for the future and it would be huge for me. It would drive me on,” he said.

“I’ve got the speed and the skills and with (trainer) Freddie Roach polishing me up a little more, it’s a fight we can win.”

Fury happy to bide time as shadow of Klitschko looms

Manchester heavyweight Tyson Fury is in no rush to challenge for world honours after taking the British and Commonwealth titles from Dereck Chisora at Wembley Arena.

Amid a fiery build-up, WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko expressed an interest in fighting the winner of the showdown between the two domestic rivals.

Chisora has twice been down to meet Klitschko in the past eight months, only for the Ukrainian to pull out through injury on both occasions.

And that was perhaps just as well for the 27-year-old Londoner, who looked some way from being a legitimate world championship contender with his customary speed and elusiveness severely compromised by weighing in at a career-high 18st 9lb.

By contrast, the 6ft 9in Fury, who improved to an unblemished career record of 15-0 while inflicting a first professional defeat on Chisora (14-1), gave the clearest evidence yet that he can become the master of his considerable physical attributes.

Even so, contrary to some predictable pre-fight bravado, the 23-year-old is happy to bide his time before trying to become Britain’s latest world champion.

“I’m only just starting off at the moment,” he said. “People like Carl Froch, David Haye and Amir Khan are all world champions – well not David Haye any more!

“But they’ve all achieved more than me. Hopefully, I can emulate what they’ve done and get some more titles.

“I just want to do it nice and steady. I’m going to go for the Irish title next followed by a defence of the British.

“Then maybe I can go for (Alexander) Dimitrenko who’s got the European title.”

Fury is eligible to box for the vacant Irish crown thanks to his Romany family heritage and is eyeing a clash with veteran Belfast brawler Martin Rogan.

Rogan, 40, played an unusual cameo from ringside at Wembley, inexplicably springing from his seat to share some thoughts with the two combatants as they grappled on the ropes in round 10.

“I want to go to Kings Hall, Belfast for ‘Big Marty’,” Fury added. “I can’t wait to get over there.”

If that bout does go ahead it can be expected to benefit from prime-time terrestrial exposure, as Fury v Chisora did on Channel Five.

Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessy believes regular free-to-air outings – a rarity in modern boxing – will lend mass-appeal to his charge.

“We have a situation where we have options, but his next fight is going to be on Five,” said Hennessy.

“I’ve noticed non-boxing people talking about this fight, talking about Tyson Fury. He’s been getting recognised in the street by non-boxing people.

“If we have about five or six outings on terrestrial TV he’s going to be a household name for sure.”

Ashley Theophane overcame a difficult start to stop Welsh veteran Jason Cook in the 10th round of the first defence of his British light-welterweight title at Wembley Arena.

Cook unsettled the Londoner early on with some intelligent pressure fighting and Theophane’s frustration was clear when he lost a point for low blows in round five.