by John Wight – In what was a superb night of boxing at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, Amir Khan successfully came through the first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title in spectacular style. His opponent, the hitherto undefeated Dmitry Salita from New York via Ukraine, was quite literally shell-shocked from the opening bell, when Khan unleashed a devastating right hand that sent him straight to the canvas. The end at that point was already inevitable, and it came when the referee mercifully stepped in to prevent the challenger taking any further punishment after 76 seconds and declared the fight over. The fact that Salita was the mandatory challenger puts paid to any of the predictable talk of him having been handpicked, and indeed prior to the fight most pundits, whilst predicting a Khan victory, envisioned a hard night’s work ahead for the California-based British champion.
What was especially pleasing about Khan’s victory on Saturday was the way in which the 10,000 sell out crowd really got behind him. Standing backstage when both boxers made their ring entrance, the noise when Khan was announced was deafening, and given the success of the promotion overall it seems a certainty that Newcastle can look forward to more big nights of boxing in its future..
Without a doubt the most confident man leading up to the fight was Khan’s trainer, Freddie Roach. Deemed responsible for transforming the Bolton-born fighter’s raw talent into the explosive package which has seen him defeat the once mighty Marco Antonio Barrera; former champion, Andreas Kotelnik; and now challenger, Dmitry Salita in just over a year since the devastating knockout he suffered at the hands of Breidis Prescott, Roach predicted a comfortable night, though even he could not have envisaged it ending so soon. In the hotel on the Friday evening before the fight, he appeared like a man who’d arrived in Newcastle to see the sights rather than guide another of his fighters through the cauldron of a world title defence. Significantly, Roach says that Khan has still only reached 50 percent of his potential, a terrifying prospect for his future opponents, it has to be said, and a mouth watering one for the fans.
As for the future, it’s now a near certainty that British fans have seen Khan’s last performance on these shores for quite some time. The US beckons, where the sport’s elite awaits, as the 22 year old sets out on the latest stage of his career to accomplish the greatness he seeks and which is surely now within his grasp after teaming up with Freddie Roach, one of the greatest if not greatest trainers to have graced the sport.
Moving on to the rest of Saturday night’s Frank Warren promotion, Breidis Prescott, the previously mentioned hard hitting Colombian who found instant fame last September when he nailed Amir Khan in just 54 seconds, was matched against Dagenham’s popular Kevin Mitchell. For excitement and courage it was a contest which had the crowd on its feet throughout.
When both fighters de-robed and met in the middle of the ring for their pre-fight instructions, you felt certain that Mitchell was the proverbial lamb being led to the slaughter. The difference in height and width between both men was reason to query if a mistake had been made and they’d been thrown in against the wrong opponent. Indeed, witnessing Mitchell move and run from the opening bell to avoid Prescott’s savage hooks and overhand right hands, was like watching a wildebeest’s desperate attempt to escape a fierce predator and certain death. Watching from ringside, you felt certain that it could only be a matter of time before one of the huge shots the Colombian was unleashing as he stalked his smaller opponent around the ring connected and brought proceedings to a predictable conclusion.
But after the 5th round, Mitchell’s strategy of using head movement and angles to thwart and frustrate Prescott began to pay off. The Colombian began to tire, his hands began to come down, and Mitchell began to make him pay with a superlative display of in and out counterpunching not seen in a British ring in many a year. With the crowd firmly behind him now, he was able to keep it up for the rest of the fight, demonstrating outstanding concentration and fitness in the process, to win a well deserved victory on points.
Also on the bill were Britain’s Olympic trio of Frankie Gavin, Billy Joe Saunders, and James De Gale, who each came through to continue their respective unbeaten records. Scotland’s Alex Arthur lost a narrow decision to Nigel Wright, while Enzo Maccarinelli made swift work of Krisztian Jaksi with a 1st round KO in his first outing since being KO’d by Russia’s Denis Lebedev back in July.
All in all this was an excellent night of boxing, filled with drama, excitement, and a crowd and atmosphere to match. More nights like this and rumours of the sport’s demise will finally be laid to rest.