Amir Khan floors Billy Dib in four
Just three months after his world title defeat to Terence Crawford, King Khan (34-5) went up against former IBF featherweight king Billy Dib (45-6) in a big-money welterweight contest in Saudi Arabia, broadcast on Channel 5.
Former featherweight world champion Billy Dib looked tiny compared to welterweight Amir Khan as the pair squared off ahead of the opening bell.
Khan displayed his customary quickness with a couple of swift jabs as he completely dominated his opponent in the opener. The stand-in opponent for injured Neeraj Goyat did very little to justify his big opportunity against one of the biggest names of British boxing.
In the secod stanza, the 32-year-old from Bolton landed with a peach of left hook and dropped the Sydney-born 33-year-old after he had charged in with a left. The Australian, born to Lebanese parents, beat the referee's count to continue the one-sided inequitable contest.
Khan showed off some incredible speed, rolling back the years in many ways but it was easy to look good against the faded featherweight.
Dib was holding on already in the third segment, all of the work and aggression coming from Khan. The Australian bought a few seconds to spare as he deliberately spat his gumshield but he really had no answer in there against the Athens 2004 Olympic silver medallist.
After a left to the body and right to the dome, Dib is dropped again in the fourth round. Dib's corner immediately threw in the towel as Khan claimed his 34th professional career win along with the WBC International welterweight title.
Despite a once-promising career, Dib wasn't the same fighter that had reigned as IBF World champion between 2011-2013. After losing to Tevin Farmer in August 2018 in an attempt to regain his IBF title at super-featherweight, he should have called time on his 15-year career that has seen the asthmatic claim 10 professional titles. Perhaps now is time to hang up the gloves after this latest and considerable pay day.
Hughie Fury's (23-2) shambolic showdown with Samuel Peter (38-8) ended in the seventh round after the Nigerian was unable to continue due to a shoulder injury.The King Abdullah Sports City event also saw Lerato Dlamini win the vacant WBC Silver featherweight title after a convincing victory against unbeaten Dave Penalosa.
Dlamini (13-1, 6 KOs) dropped Penalosa (15-1, 11 KOs) several times throughout the fight, with the judges scoring it 118-108, 117-109 and 117-109 in his favour to earn the one-sided win.
Elsewhere, Zuhayr Al-Qahtani (7-0) thrilled his home fans with a dominant four round points verdict over Rakesh Lohchab (6-1-1, 2 KOs).
Uzbekistan’s Shakhobidin Zoirov (3-0, 2 KOs) was also victorious, as he continued his progression as a professional with a four round points win against Sandeep Singh Bhatti.