British Heavyweight legend Lennox Lewis has confirmed he will be in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday 12th July to watch Amir Khan in his showdown with Billy Dibb.
Two-time World Champions Khan and Dib will clash in a spectacular setting at the King Abdullah Sports City for the Vacant WBC International Welterweight title, televised exclusively live in the UK on free-to-air Channel 5.
Lewis, the former Unified WBC, IBF & WBA World Heavyweight Champion, announced on his Instagram account @mrlennoxlewis that he will be at ringside for the highly anticipated showdown in the desert.
He said:
I’ve watched @amirkingkhan career unfold from he became the youngest British boxing Olympic medalist to unified world champion.. and everything else in between – “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here” 😀 🥊
I’ll be in Jeddah to witness another chapter, Khan vs Dib.. #KhanDib🥊
More legendary boxing champion and celebrities will be at ringside for the big fight and will be announced regularly.
WBC International Title Sanctioned For Khan – Dib On Red Sea Fight Night In Jeddah
The World Boxing Council (WBC) has sanctioned the organisation’s Vacant International Welterweight title to be contested between Amir Khan and Billy Dib on Friday 12th July at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
It was announced yesterday that Khan would now face Australian Dib after original opponent Neeraj Goyat was forced to withdraw following his involvement in a serious car accident that has required him to have hospital treatment.
The history-making fight between British-Pakistani Khan and India’s Goyat would have been the first time the two nations had met in the boxing ring and the WBC had commissioned a special one-time Pearl Championship belt to commemorate the landmark fight.
However, with the unfortunate withdrawal of Goyat, the WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has now given permission for the Vacant WBC International title to be on the line instead when Khan and Dib, both Two-Time World Champions, meet in the ring on fight night.
The WBC International Welterweight belt has previously been held by former pound-for-pound greats Shane Mosley and Erik Morales.
Sulaiman said, “The fight between Amir Khan and Billy Dib is now officially confirmed for the WBC International title and I’m proud that it will be contested for at the magnificent King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah. The specially commissioned WBC Pearl Championship belt that was due to be challenged for will now be contested at a future date. The winner of Khan and Dib will receive a WBC ranking in the top five of the welterweight division.”
Khan vs Dib
Amir Khan will now fight Two-Time World Champion Billy Dib on Friday 12th July in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the WBC Pearl Welterweight Championship on the line after his original opponent Neeraj Goyat was involved in a car accident.
Two-Time World Champion Khan was due to face Goyat at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in the first ever Pakistan-India showdown in a boxing ring.
Khan will still headline the groundbreaking boxing extravaganza in the Middle East that also features Hughie Fury, Prince Patel and Dave Penasola all in championship title action, exclusively live in the UK on Channel 5 and 5Spike.
It’s clear that Goyat’s will not recover in time and be fully fit to fight Khan on the scheduled date and promoter Bill Dosanjh of The Super Boxing League has moved quickly to secure Khan a new opponent in the World class former two-time World champion Dibb.
Khan said, “First of all my heart goes out to Neeraj and I pray for him to make a full recovery and is fit and healthy again to resume his boxing career,” said Khan.
“We’ve had to make the decision to find a replacement and we’ve done extremely well in securing Dib to now be in the opposite corner.”
“This fight is a landmark moment for boxing in Saudi Arabia and myself, Bill, the Saudi GSA and the government have worked tirelessly to put this event together. We wanted to keep the event on during the important Saudi Season and ensure the fans in Saudi get to watch this great event,”
“I’ve been a professional for nearly 14 years now and I’ve seen and dealt with near enough everything in that time so adjusting to a new opponent and challenge is part and parcel of the boxing business so I’ve just got to sit down with my team and work on the new plan,”
“I’m really excited the fight is still on, I would have been absolutely distraught if my dream of fighting in Saudi had to be put on hold. Dib is a respected and experienced two-time World Champion so I’m looking forward to pitting my skill against him.”
The event titled Red Sea Fight Night staged during the Saudi Seasons – an initiative aimed at transforming the Kingdom into one of the most important tourist destinations in the world – is a boxing extravaganza with three further big Championship titles fights on the show: Hughie Fury vs. Samuel Peter – Championship Title TBC; Prince Patel vs. Michell Banquez – IBO World Bantamweight Championship; Dave Penalosa vs. Lerato Dlamini – WBC Silver Featherweight Championship
An action packed undercard also features British middleweight talent Michael Hennessy Jr. vs Abdul Julaidan Fatah; Super-bantamweight contest Amandeep Singh vs Shakhobidin Zoirov; Lightweight contest Zuhayr Al Qahtani vs. Farhad Hazratzada; Super-featherweight contest Lolito Sonsona vs. Isack Junior; Welterweight contest Rodrigo Caraballo vs. Sajid Abid and Heavyweight Contest Ali Kiydin vs. Hemi Ahio.
Khan v Dib is exclusively live in the UK on free-to-air Channel 5 and the undercard on 5Spike on Friday 12th July.
