Khan winning his battle to crack America
2:24pm Monday 25th July 2011 in Sport By Staff Sports Reporter
A NUMBER of familiar faces travelled across the Atlantic to offer him their support, but it was the response of the US audience that best illustrated just how much Amir Khan could achieve before his boxing career is over.
'It was like watching a right-handed Manny Pacquiao,' said one veteran of the US press section in the minutes after Khan's fifth-round stoppage of Zab Judah in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Khan's name was up in lights at the Mandalay Bay hotel a day after Russell Brand, the comedian passing through Las Vegas while on tour in the US.
And just like his compatriot, Khan is starting to build a considerable brand of his own in America.
He will never lose his English following, cheered on once more by the vociferous 'Khan's Army'.
Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside also travelled over from the club's final tour game in Houston to lend his backing.
Joe Calzaghe was ringside, as was the legendary American Bernard Hopkins.
Regardless of nationality, everyone went away impressed by a display that Khan's vastly respected trainer Freddie Roach described as 'perfect'.
Some observers at the manically packed post-fight press conference were fulsome enough in their praise to suggest that Khan would beat Floyd Mayweather if the pair fought now, even though the Bolton boxer said himself that he is not ready for that fight quite yet.
Judah was once regarded as having arguably the fastest hands in boxing, but he was not even close to matching his opponent's speed on Saturday.
Confused and bloodied, the 33-year-old lost every round and his appeals that the stoppage came from a low blow - with boos also coming from a sizeable number of Judah fans in the crowd - were futile. He was heading for defeat either way.
This was Khan's third bout in the US and the Bolton man could not have done any more to grab a nation's attention.
Stoppage victories over Paulie Malignaggi and Judah - both well known and respected American fighters - came either side of a dramatic triumph against Marcos Maidana that showed Khan can offer up gripping entertainment.
The Maidana fight drew a crowd of only 4,632 at the Mandalay Bay in December but the bigger name of Judah and the rising interest in Khan meant 7,279 were present this time.
That was still less than capacity and some way short of the 17,000 that saw Khan take on Paul McCloskey at the MEN Arena in April, but US boxing relies less on big crowds and more on television figures.
While a dispute with Sky has seen Khan switch to the lesser known Primetime channel in England, all of his fights are now shown in the US on HBO - the country's main boxing network.
As a result, the 24-year-old's pay for Saturday's fight stood at 650,000 pounds even before UK pay-per-view money and promoter fees were added in.
Khan has captured America's imagination to such a degree that he suggested last week that he now feels more appreciated in the US than he does in some parts of the UK.
With only a few exceptions, boxers must crack America to earn the very biggest fights and Khan is proving he can do that.
Win those fights when they come along and he will become the best.
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