Amir “King” Khan is back in the winners column with a fourth round stoppage of former featherweight champion Billy Dib.
The fight took place Friday night (July 12, 2019) at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the arena was packed.
Dib was a last minute replacement for injured Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat and fought at welterweight for the first time, he normally campaigns at featherweight.
Khan reunited with strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza for this fight and hired new trainer former world champion Bones Adams.
The fight started with both guys circling and feeling each other out. Khan clearly looked much faster, but the size difference showed early.
In round two, Khan landed a left hook that dropped Dib. The fight was pretty much one sided in Khan’s favor and in the fourth round, Khan unleashed a flurry of fast punches that sent Dib down to the canvas. Before Dib could beat the count his corner threw the towel in.
The stoppage was a merciful one by Dib’s trainers because he was clearly outmatched and he would have just taken more damage throughout the fight.
It was a great confidence booster for Khan after retiring in his corner in his last fight against undefeated American WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
Khan still has the ambition to become a welterweight world champion and he is rooting for his former stablemate Manny Pacquiao to defeat Keith Thurman on July 20th to become the WBA super champion.
During the post-fight interview Khan said he would love to return to Saudi Arabia with a big fight against Pacquiao.
Rumors around the internet were swirling about Khan and Pacquiao having an agreement to met should they win their upcoming fights, but this is just internet ramble as of now.
The biggest fight for Khan would likely be a domestic showdown between longtime rival Kell Brook in the UK, but Khan refuses to give Brook the time of day.
