Tonight in Saudi Arabia, British star Amir Khan did as expected and dispatched the much smaller Billy Dib. Khan, way too big, not to mention fast and powerful, put Dib down with a left hand to the head in the second and finished his man off with a fusillade in round-four which prompted Dib’s corner to throw in the towel.
Khan, who picked up the WBC international welterweight belt, improves to 34-5(21). Dib, who gave it a go, falls to 45-6(26).
Khan had to work quite hard in order to nail down Dib, who was smartly using plenty of movement; fleeting around the ring as the former IBF featherweight champ was. Dib showed defiance after making Khan miss with a series of shots. By making it though the opening round as he had, Dib had perhaps surprised a good few fans.
The end almost came in round-two, however, as Khan, still wickedly fast at age 32, caught Dib with a left hand as the Australian threw a left of his own. But Dib got up and boxed his way out of the remainder of the session. Dib was starting to get beaten up in the third yet he was still there trying.
The end was typical Khan, a good finisher when he has a man hurt and manages to maintain his concentration. Catching Dib with a hard right to the head that drove Dib into the ropes, Khan then attacked the body before going back to the head to get the finish as the white flag fluttered in.
So what next for Khan? Ahead of tonight’s fight, the former 140 pound champ actually spoke of his desire to get a return shot at Terence Crawford, who as we know stopped Khan (somewhat controversially with a low blow) back in April. There is also some talk of another trip to Saudi Arabia and even a mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Khan is not done yet. He is still fast, explosive and exciting to watch and we cannot rule it out that he gets himself another world title chance before his thrill-a-minute career does finally reach is conclusion. As for Dib, retirement seems to be the sensible answer. Hopefully the late replacement foe picked up a decent payday. We know Khan sure did.