SO much for his supposed toughest opponent to date! Amir Khan took only 75 seconds to dispose of Belarus's Vitali Martynov at Nottingham Arena on Saturday night to make it five straight wins since he turned professional.

The former Bury Amateur Boxing Club star, a silver medal winner in the Athens Olympics, reinforced his promise as a future world champion with yet another fine exhibition of power and handspeed.

From the opening bell it never looked likely that his first scheduled six-round fight would go the distance.

Martynov, two years older than Khan at 21, cut a nervous figure when he entered the ring. He had good reason to be.

One side of the Belarussian's face was crimson within seconds of the bout beginning and, while it lasted, he looked totally outclassed as Khan went through his full repertoire.

Counter-punching with speed, accuracy and stunning power, the end came when he followed a left hook with a ramrod right through his opponent's inadequate guard and put him on his backside.

Martynov, who had only tasted defeat once in his eleven fight pro careeer, made it to his feet before the bell but he was in another world and referee Terry O'Connor did him a big favour by stopping the bout.

"I don't think I threw one hard punch," said Khan, who was watched at ringside by his Bury ABC mentor Mike Jelley who was with his father, Shah.

"It was about picking the right one and using speed. Some fights will be hard and others easy - that was easy.

"But if I hadn't listened to what my trainer Oliver Harrison said I could have made it harder for myself."

Khan, who only joined the paid ranks six months ago, has a busy year ahead of him.

He is next in action at the ExCel Centre, London on February 25, on the undercard of the Matt Skelton v Danny Williams heavyweight title showdown.

Then, on March 25, he has a trip to Glasgow's Braehead Arena to look forward to.

The big problem for promoter Frank Warren is going to be finding opponents for the Bolton-born prospect.

Khan's trainer, Oliver Harrison, believes he is ready to step up to championship level already and it's easy to forget that he is only just turned 19.