Light welterweight (2009–present)

Light welterweight (2009–present)


 Khan vs. Kotelnik

On 18 July 2009, Khan moved up to the light welterweight to fight Andreas Kotelnik at the MEN Arena in Manchester for the WBA World light welterweight title. Khan won by a unanimous decision, 120–108, 118–111, 118–111, and became the third-youngest Briton to win a world title, at the age of 22.[21]



Khan vs. Salita

On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA World light welterweight title against undefeated Ukrainian American boxer Dmitry Salita, the mandatory challenger, on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.[22] Due to Khan being a practising Muslim and Salita being an Orthodox Jew, the fight was hyped as a religious clash by the media, referring to it as a "battle of faiths" or "holy war", though Khan and Salita have both denied such claims.[23][24] On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated mandatory challenger Salita in 76 seconds, winning by technical knockout in the first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time after just 10 seconds into the fight.[25] It was the first ever loss of Salita's career.[26]



On 17 January 2010, Khan announced he had split with British promoter Frank Warren and signed a deal with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, with Khan's fights moving back to ITV.[27]



Khan vs. Malignaggi



Khan (left) and Malignaggi at the press conference on March 17, 2010.On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and former light welterweight world champion Paulie Malignaggi will hold a press conference in London to announce their world title bout set for 15 May at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. This was Khan's first bout in the United States of America. The fight was for the WBA light welterweight title, which Khan won in the 11th round.[28] Immediately after the fight, Khan stated he wanted to fight Marcos Maidana next, and that he would not be leaving the light welterweight division until he had unified the various belts, suggesting that the way to do this would be for him to fight Maidana, and then go on to face the winner of a Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley match.[29]



Khan vs. Maidana

Main article: Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana

Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against WBA Interim Champion and mandatory challenger, Marcos Maidana on 11 December 2010 in Las Vegas.[30] Khan dominated the fight early and knocked down Maidana in the 1st round with multiple body shots, but had to withstand a furious barrage by Maidana in the later rounds to win by a narrow and controversial unanimous decision. There is much speculation about the role referee Joe Cortez may have played in Khan's victory.[31][32][33]