Amir Khan returned to the ring last night, headlining a boxing and entertainment extravaganza out in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in a fight with Australian boxer Billy Dib, a late replacement for original opponent Neeraj Goyat. It was Khan’s first bout since the somewhat disappointing WBO welterweight title defeat to p4p ranked Terence Crawford back in March.
Khan, visibly the much larger man, stalked his out gunned opponent from the opening bell, looking to land a power shot at the earliest opportunity, the first of which presented it self in the second round, a powerful counter left hook put Dib on his backside and at that point it seemed just a matter of time before the Bolton man produced an emphatic finish to the contest. Dib, a former World Featherweight Champion and fighting as high as 147lbs for the first time in a 50 fight career, managed to survive the remainder of the second stanza and made it the through the third round but it was only delaying the inevitable, the 4th round saw Khan unleash a double left hook that easily found its mark before a ferocious onslaught flattened his clearly overmatched foe and the towel was immediately thrown in, a reported $7,000,000 purse and the WBC ‘international’ title the reward for arguably the easiest 4 rounds of ‘King’ Khan’s career.
Whilst Amir Khan will take confidence from such a one sided beat down and ultimately a much needed victory it does little by way of enlightening what he has left to offer at the very top of the stacked welterweight division against young, hungry lions such as the afore mentioned Terence Crawford, Keith Thurman and Errol Spence Jr.
After a hugely successful career in which he has experienced the highs of multiple world title reigns alongside some brutal knockout defeats, Khan would be forgiven if he was to call it a day at this point but it seems as though the glamour of another fight in the Middle East against the legendary Manny Pacquiao or a domestic grudge match with long time rival Kell Brook is proving too much for him to turn his back on.
Also on the card, which was broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK, was heavyweight contender Hughie Fury taking on the faded former world champion Samuel Peter, It was an awkward and scruffy bout from the very first bell with Fury dominating behind his jab and easily avoiding Peter crude attempts to land a big right hand. Peters landed many illegal blows through out the contest, dropping a point for landing a left hook after the ref had called for a break but many low blows went unpunished as they seem to avoid the official’s eyeline. Peter, 14 years older than his opponent, was clearly getting more and more frustrated then attempted to land another illegal blow in the 7th round as the ref again called for a break, the Nigerian injured himself in the process and was pulled out after a few minutes of confusion as to whether he could continue, handing Hughie Fury a bizarre stoppage victory.
Written by Luke Carney, SimBoxx 🥊🥊
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