Britain’s Amir Khan makes the first defence of his WBA light-welterweight belt against unbeaten but untested New Yorker Dmitriy Salita at the Metro Arena in Newcastle on December 5, a mandatory defence. Salita, despite his No. 1 ranking, has beaten a host of fringe contenders and looks a bit of a ‘gimmee’ for the young, confident champion from Bolton. Salita is a practicing Jew, well-spoken and marketable. He has been carefully – ever so carefully – manoeuvred to his ranking since turning pro in 2001. In 2006 he was held to a draw by unheralded Mexican Ramon Montano in an eight-rounder - admittedly the only blemish on his 31-fight record – and his team then stepped him down a level to keep him winning. Believe me, the challenger gets more attention from his Jewish beliefs (including a film titled The Orthodox Stance and a meet with former US President George ‘W’ Bush) than he does his ring ability, although the two together make him so marketable. Don’t get me wrong, the 27-year-old Salita, a genuine good guy, enjoys to box and sees no clash of cultures in this one, against a practicing Muslim. Who cares? Khan would beat Salita as a practicing mechanic. (“He’s the fastest big guy since Ali,” said Angelo Dundee of Jewish heavyweight Roman Greenberg a few years ago, which says it all.) Salita is not a puncher, a reasonable boxer, yes, tough and willing, yes, but no puncher. We all remember Khan going down in 54 shocking seconds to Colombia’s Breidis Prescott. Khan is simply a cut above Salita, simply the better fighter. He won his WBA title with a sparkling decision over Andreas Kotelnik in the summer. Kotelnik is no mug, but Khan schooled him. Before that Khan had busted up Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in five rounds - both of which helped erase the memory of the Prescott disaster last year on Khan’s own Lancashire turf in Manchester. At 21-1 (15), Khan, still only 22, is trained by the immense Freddie Roach who has really made the difference since Prescott, sharpening up Amir’s defence and moving him up to light-welterweight where the champion looks so much stronger while retaining his blinding foot and hand-speed. Jewish boxers once ruled the boxing world (Max Baer, Benny Leonard, Barney Ross… but they certainly don’t any more and Salita makes the journey having fought only once outside the States in eight years as a pro and that was hardly much of a journey or much of a fight: he stopped Minnesota’s (cough, cough) John Hoffman in three rounds in Puerto Rico in 2003. There can only be one winner: the dazzling Khan.
I think the bill looks quite good, Mitchell vs Prescott looks great. Khan Salite looks a bore but with Khans chin anything is possible. I think Khan will win though and win by ko. Saturday 05th December 2009 Metro Radio Arena (Telewest Arena), Newcastle, England Kevin Mitchell vs Breidis Prescott Lightweight details WBA LIGHT WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD Amir Khan vs Dimitry Salita Light-Welterweight details Ronnie Heffron vs TBA details James DeGale vs TBA details Frankie Gavin vs TBA details Billy Joe Saunders vs TBA details
Well done noob...3 posts in and you have already got into the swing of things with your ever so clever, and original word play...**** on:deal, **** being the operative word:thumbsup