Description
by Patrick J Killian
Limited Edition Giclee Print of 23
Size: 24in x 20in
Produced live at the Newcastle Arena fight night, 5th December 2009.
In early 2009, it was announced that Khan would fight former seven-time and three-weight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera on 14 March 2009 at the Manchester Evening News Arena. Frank Warren promoted Khan’s fight against the veteran Barrera. Barrera was ranked #1 and Khan #9 in the WBO world lightweight rankings. On 14 March at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, Khan defeated Barrera after the fight was stopped towards the end of the 5th round due to Barrera suffering a severe cut reopened from his previous fight. With Barrera deemed in no position to fight on by the ringside doctor, the fight went to the scorecards where Khan was ahead on all three. Frank Warren was sufficiently impressed with Khan’s performance that he vowed to land a world title fight for him before the end of the year. On 18 July, Khan defeated Andreas Kotelnik at the MEN Arena in Manchester for the WBA World Light-Welterweight title. Khan won by a unanimous decision and become the third-youngest Briton to win a world title, at the age of 22. The winner of the fight was to face undefeated up-comer Dmitry Salita, as he is the immediate contender. Salita said, ”Amir Khan is just holding on to my championship right now.” Salita said there is a 90-day negotiating period for Khan promoter Frank Warren and Salitaês promoter, Square Ring, to finalize a deal, and that both promoters had already had preliminary talks prior to Khanês win. On 6th October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA World Light welterweight title against undefeated Ukrainian American boxer Dmitry Salita, the mandatorychallenger, on 5 December at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. On 5th December, Khan fought Dmitry Salita and won by technical knock out in the first round, with the first knock down coming after just ten seconds. Khan defeated Salita in 1 minute and 16 seconds of the first round, giving Salita the first ever loss of his career.
