Amir Khan made a hugely successful first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title with a first-round blow-out victory against the previously unbeaten Dmitriy Salita in Newcastle.
The then 22-year-old from Bolton had won the title with victory over Ukrainian Andreas Kotelnik that July, less than a year after his shocking first-round defeat by unknown Colombian Breidis Prescott.
And he defended it in style, flooring Ukraine-born New Yorker Salita – who had a record of 30 wins and a draw heading into the contest – in the first few seconds and battering him to defeat in barely a minute.
Salita had been expected to at least make a fight of it at the then Metro Radio Arena and threw the opening few shots, albeit hitting only fresh air.
Khan responded in kind and floored his man barely 10 seconds into the contest, landing a hard left and crushing right to send Salita spiralling to the canvas.
A further flurry bludgeoned the American onto one knee, and a further assault with the right hand had Salita unsteady against the ropes when Puerto Rican referee Luis Pavon stepped in and ended it with one minute and 16 seconds gone.
Khan immediately targeted a trip to the US, saying: “It’s everyone’s dream to go over to Vegas.
“After that reception, you don’t want to leave England. I’d like to fight in England and keep fighting here.
“But, definitely, in the next year sometime, I think it would be a good move to go to the States. I train over there and I love it there.”
