Join Will Cooling at 10pmET/3amBST for live play by play of the highly anticipated clash between Amir Khan and Zab Judah that will unify WBA/IBF light welterweight titles. Inside Fights will be bringing you the action from what promises to be an intriguing fight that may well have implications for who faces the winner of Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz.
We are live. Both fighters are in the ring at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay and Michael Buffer is making the ring introduction. The second title unification match of July is about to get underway.
Round One
Khan takes the center of the ring straight off and looks to push Judah back with darting shots to the body. Judah slips and holds. Referee separates. Both fighters moving around the ring at speed, trying to catch the other. Not quite tentative but both looking to land darting blows rather than stand and trade in the pocket. Khan seemed to hurt Judah with a short punch. Khan landed another good right hand on the chin of Judah. Both fighters exchange, with Khan responding with a Judah left with some messy right hands. They clash heads and Judah thinks he’s been cut and he’s having problems with his right eye. Good opener for Khan 10-9.
Round Two
Khan moving around the ring way while looking for the right hand. Khan misses with a wild overhand punch. Khan pushing Judah back but not landing as easily in the first. More signs of the Orthodox-Southpaw matchup causing problems. Khan landing shots to the body, and then landing a few jabs to the head of Judah. Khan again misses with that overhand punch. Khan is making Judah look very stationary. Khan pushes Judah up against the ropes and works the body. Khan gets a right hand through. Khan is the one pushing the action with more punches at the end. 20-18.
Round Three
Judah trying to be more aggressive at the beginning of this round but Khan just looks too quick. Judah struggling with his right eye. Judah slipping some punches but can’t move as well as his corner wanted him to. Khan starting to land some hard shots, including the left hook. Judah is pawing the jab out there but he’s not doing anything with any authority. Khan pistons out the punches and gets through with several jabs. Judah trying to hold and make it ugly but the referee is doing a great job keeping it clean. Khan is completely imposing his speed on Judah, closing with a great combination at the end. Khan is looking dominant. 30-27.
Round Four
More of the same with Khan moving around the ring at will, moving in to unload quick combinations whenever he wants. Judah looks all at sea, falling back or holding clumsily. Judah gets a few punches to the body of Khan through but he just cannot stop Khan from outworking him. Khan lands a full right hand on Judah that causes the IBF Champion to just sag back onto the ropes while his WBA counterpart lets the hands go for an eye-catching flurry. Khan has repeatedly landed several punches while Judah is thinking of throwing one. Another good round for Khan. 40-36.
Round Five
The gulf in athleticism is quite staggering here with Khan just making Judah look hopeless by working with such verve and dynamism. Khan is taking apart Judah with real ferocity, landing fast combinations at will. Judah’s game is coming part under the pressure – desperately trying to hold and complaining to the referee. The end comes when Khan follows up a straight right with a punch to the body that drops Judah hard at 2:40. Replays show that the punch was very close to the belt-line, some angles showing it low but the side-on shot seemed to suggest it landed cleanly. Slight note of controversy aside, a dominant performance none the less from Khan. After a disappointing performance against Paul McCloskey he seemed back to his best tonight.
Amir Khan defeated Zab Judah to unify WBA and IBF Light Welterweight Titles via knockout at 2.40 of the fifth round
