Khan stops Dib in Jeddah
Friday at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, two former champions squared off as Amir Khan stops Billy Dib in the fourth round to claim the vacant WBC International Title. The title was originally the newly created “Pearl” title but they changed it before the fight took place.
Khan with the victory also places himself back into the Top 5 of the WBC rankings.
Thank you for all the support. Fight 39. Big thanks to my team Bones Adam @ArizaFitness1 and hector. @SBLHitHarder for putting on a great show in Jeddah. Many more to come in Saudi Arabia. All the best @BillyDib hope u come back stronger. Who should I fight next? pic.twitter.com/OZwTiNZLrT
— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) July 13, 2019
Dib (45-6, 26 KOs) came in as a late replacement for the contest as the original opponent Neeraj Goya was injured in an automobile accident and had to come up two weight classes to take on Khan. Dib himself even joked about that thought on Twitter. Once the bell rang, the size played a factor as Dib was knocked down in the second round by Khan and again in the fourth before his corner threw in the towel to end the contest.
Really can’t believe I competed in a a Welterweight bout. ? pic.twitter.com/SEc6x5iFvf
— Billy Dib (@BillyDib) July 13, 2019
Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) with the victory rebounds after his loss against Terrance Crawford. He spoke with Betvictor after the fight and said the following:
“First time-fighting in Saudi Arabia, first time flying in Saudi. I mean normally I’m used to fighting in America and in England but this is the first time I fought somewhere else. It was exciting you know, it was different.
I want to thank Billy Dib and his team who stepped up. You know training camp was quite short for me but at the same time my last fight wasn’t too long away so I wanted to get back into the ring and get back into the mix again and obviously win the WBC International title.”
I think from here it’s going to move up and go on to bigger fights.”
We’ll see where Khan goes from here but if you missed the knockdowns from the fight, a fan with some really good seats put it up on Youtube below:
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
