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Former WBA/IBF light welter king Amir Khan burned a few more of his nine lives last night at Sheffield’s Motorpoint Arena, managing to finish the fight on his feet after a knockdown and quite a few shaky moments against opponent Julio Diaz.
Working for the second time with Super Middle World Champ Andre Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter, Khan showed discipline and composure in the early rounds, working behind the jab while focusing also on preventing the defensive lapses that have dogged him in the past.
Displaying and edge in quickness, Khan was the busier, more accurate fighter in the first two rounds, managing distance well but by the third, California’s Diaz had managed to get closer to Khan and began to find a home for his left hook.
The fourth frame was disastrous for Khan as ex-two time IBF lightweight champion Diaz rammed home a three shot combination bookended by two good left hooks that put the Englishman on the floor.
Khan beat the count and held on for dear life as Diaz tried to finish the job but could not do so amid Khan’s constant grabbing for the rest of the round.
The local hero got on his toes for the next two frames, basically running and jabbing his way through and avoiding any confrontation with his aggressive rival.
Khan tried mixing it up again in the seventh and eighth rounds, landing some good shots but also taking some heavy leather from the oncoming Diaz. The ninth saw Khan return to boxing, using movement and the jab to keep Diaz at bay.
Diaz dominated the tenth and eleventh frames, wobbling Khan badly with left hooks on several occasions, forcing the Bolton man into a desperate grab or run style.
After that big effort, the visitor could not put the pedal to the metal in the final round, giving Khan the room and time to recover and box.
The scores were for Khan,115-113, 115-112, 114-113, who improves to 28-3 (19), but suffered a moral loss of sorts, getting bashed up in his first bout on home soil in over two years by a fighter widely seen as years past his best form.
Talk of a major fight at either light welter or welter later this year could portend a lot of trouble for Khan if the opponent carries considerable weight in his gloves.
Diaz drops to 40-8-1 (29) but will likely gain a world title opportunity at light welter based on the strength of his performance in Sheffield.
The support bouts included 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Deontay Wilder, 28-0 (28), belting out 2000 Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison, 31-7 (23), in the first round at heavyweight, super feather Gary Sykes, 24-3 (5), retained his English belt with a 10 round UD over John Kays, 16-3-1 (4).
Former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Nate Campbell, 36-11-1 (26), may be at the end of the road at age 41 as he retired at 3:00 of the fourth with a hand injury against Terry Flannigan at lightweight.
