Amir Khan made a successful return to action, blowing away late replacement Billy Dib inside four rounds in his Middle Eastern debut to claim the WBC International welterweight title.
Fighting in front of a capacity crowd in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Khan stalked his considerably smaller opponent from the outset looking for openings, as Dib elected to backpedal out of danger.
Dib – resurfacing from retirement after losing his IBF super-featherweight title to Tevin Farmer – was clearly content to concede the early rounds to Khan in an effort to capitalise later on in the fight, but paid the price for his willingness to engage in the second round when a left hook from Khan dropped the Sydney native to the canvas.
Dib courageously answered the count, however, Khan at this point was smelling blood and visibly eager to gratify the raucous Jeddah audience with a spectacular finish.
The Bolton man continued to pummel Dib with blistering combinations, showcasing his trademark hand speed and mixing it up with punishing shots to the midsection, before a destructive array of punches in the fourth round prompted Dib’s corner to intervene in order to save their gutsy fighter from sustaining any further punishment.
Article by: Navi Singh
