AMIR Khan proudly wore his first belt as a professional after producing a perfect 10 in London.

The Bolton boxer claimed what he hopes will be the first of many titles by winning the vacant IBF Inter-contintental light-welterweight crown in only his 10th fight after a unanimous points decision over the durable Frenchman Rachid Drilzane.

It was a remarkable achievement for the popular Khan, who took the huge step up from six to 10 rounds just one day after his 20th birthday, when he became eligible to fight for a title.

"What a way to celebrate my birthday," he said. "Everyone wanted me to go 10 rounds and I have proved that I am going in the right direction after coming through such a tough fight against a strong and heavier opponent."

His trainer Oliver Harrison was delighted with the way Khan had followed his instructions to the letter.

"He did exactly what I wanted him to do," said Harrison.

"I told him to take the first three rounds easy. He listened to what I said and did the job perfectly.

"Ideally I would have liked more time to work with him to prepare for 10 rounds, but when we were offered the chance at short notice I knew we should take it because although he has prepared for eight rounds I knew he could go further.

"He will learn so much from these types of fights and although he took a few punches, as Barry McGuigan said, you can't go into the shower without getting wet'."

It was the perfect return for Khan to the huge ExCel Centre, in London's Docklands, as he finally rewarded his patient fans, who had been ridiculously kept waiting to see him by ITV until nearly midnight, by going the distance.

Khan took the fight by 99 points to 91, which meant he had won every round except one, the seventh, which he shared after taking a standing count. The referee thought Khan had been knocked to the canvas but he claimed it was just a slip.

That was the only blip on a night that saw Khan finally tested. He could claim to have been ring-rusty having fought for just 101 seconds since the beginning of July, but that never looked the case from the moment he started brightly in the opening round as he got his jab working well and fired in a couple of telling punches to the body.

He stepped up the pace in the second and fired in two stinging lefts to the face before following up with good body shots.

Khan continued to dominate in the third and knocked the Frenchman's head back, but the man from Marseille never looked in trouble.

Khan's speed and movement continued to keep him out of trouble in the fifth although he got caught with a couple of telling punches in the sixth.

The Bolton boy was moving into unchartered territory by the seventh and it looked as if the extra-distance might be his undoing when he was caught three times in quick succession and, for the first time in his professional career, was given a standing count after taking another shot, which caught him off balance.

He was quickly up and clearly unhurt but it was a warning that he heeded in the eighth as he kept out of danger.

The Olympic silver medallist gained his second wind in the ninth to get his jab going again and finished the 10th well on top after a frantic series of punches, one particularly to the body, which looked to have hurt his 28-year-old opponent for the first time in the fight.

Khan says he wants this victory to be the countdown to a world title shot within the next couple of years when he will have turned 21 - if it is then this fight was clearly the first step to him coming of age.