WBA junior welterweight champ Amir Khan took his next big step towards superstar status with a dominating fifth round KO of IBF champ Zab Judah. Khan established his superiority from the opening bell and won every minute of every round. Judah was in great condition but was on the defensive throughout, hoping to change the course of the fight with occasional power shots.
In round five, Khan landed a hard right hand to Judah's belt line. Judah may have been hurt but it looked more likely that he wanted to see if he could get referee Vic Drakulich to penalize Khan for a low blow. Drakulich, however, correctly scored it a knock down and began his count. Judah waited until Drakulich reached a count of ten before protesting that the punch was low. Judah has fought bravely in the past so it may seem harsh to say he quit. Nevertheless, on this night, it looked like Judah knew he was in against a superior fighter and elected to utilize what he felt was a face-saving excuse to avoid taking further punishment.
Punch stats showed Khan landing 61 of 284 punches to only 20 of 115 for Judah. After the fight, Judah and his camp stuck to their low blow story in hopes that others would deem the ending controversial but no one was biting.
The plan is for Khan to fight one last time at 140 on December 10 before moving up to 147. WBC/WBO champ Timothy Bradley (who previously passed on facing Khan), Robert Guerrero (if he gets past Marcos Maidana on Aug. 27), veteran Erik Morales and Breidis Prescott (who KO'd Khan in one round in 2008 for his only pro loss) are all possible opponents. The longer term goal is a fight with either Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao. A Pacquiao-Khan meeting seems less likely as both men are trained by Freddie Roach.
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