In a clash of former Olympic silver medalists, Amir Khan (21-1, 15 KOs) won the WBA super lightweight championship by outboxing reigning titleholder Andreas Kotelnik (31-3-1, 13 KOs) on Saturday night at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England. Khan, who moved up from lightweight, was busier in round one. Kotelnik upped the pressure in round two as Khan boxed from long range. That was pattern of the fight as the counter-puncher Kotelnik was forced to take more of an aggressor’s role against the fleet-footed youngster’s long range sharp-shooting. Good two-way action at times, but Khan’s strategy to quickly move in and out paid dividends on the scorecards. Scores were 120-108, 118-111, 118-111.
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Unbeaten cruiserweight Denis Lebedev (18-0, 13 KOs) may have ended the career of former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli (29-4, 22 KOs), brutally stopping him in round three. Maccarinelli was never down, but was being punished severely by Ledebev when the bout was waved off. With the win, Ledebev claims the vacant WBO Intercontinental title. Macca, who has now lost three of four, had vowed to retire if Lebedev beat him.
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Promoter Frank Warren’s trio of Olympians were all victorious against widely outclassed opponents. Middleweight Billy Joe Saunders (3-0, 3 KOs) got a second round stoppage against Matt Scriven (13-53, 1 KO), welterweight Frankie Gavin (3-0, 3 KOs) dropped Graham Fearn (4-3, 1 KO) twice in round two before the bout was halted, middleweight James DeGale (3-0, 2 KOs) floored Ciaran Healy (10-11, 2 KOs) twice in round one before Healy’s corner threw in the towel.
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Jr middleweight Anthony Small (22-1, 16 KOs) scored an impressive eighth round stoppage over WBO #4 rated Matthew Hall (22-2, 15 KOs) The bout was halted with Small battering a defenseless Hall at the 2:21 mark. Small claims Hall’s Commonwealth title and wins the vacant British light-middleweight title.
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Unbeaten WBO #1 super featherweight Kevin Mitchell (29-0, 22 KOs) stated active, handing journeyman Rudy Encarnacion 18-16-2, 8 KOs) his sixth straight loss via TKO stoppage in round eight. Mitchell is queued up to challenge WBO champ Roman Martinez later this year.
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Super middleweight Paul Smith (27-1, 15 KOs) of “Contender: Season 3″ fame, outpointed Michal Bilak (19-9, 10 KOs) over eight rounds.
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Unbeaten WBO #7 welterweight Kell Brook (20-0, 13 KOs) retained his British title with a third round TKO against Michael Lomax (15-2-1, 2 KOs).