AMIR Khan was forced to clamber off the canvas and survive a ferocious five-round war before finally despatching Michael Gomez to retain his Commonwealth lightweight title in Birmingham last night.
Khan was briefly dropped by a crashing left hand from Gomez in round two as the Manchester man made a mockery of pre-fight predictions that the Olympic silver medallist was in for an easy ride.
Gomez himself clawed his way off the canvas in the
opening round and again early in the fifth before a huge right hand from Khan signalled the end. With Gomez sagging in the ropes, referee John Keane stepped in at two minutes 32 seconds of the fifth.
The high-octane war proved a valuable learning experience for Khan, who had to deal with the commendable spirit of a former British super-featherweight champion seeking his last shot at glory on his 31st birthday. But ultimately Khan kept his poise and showed strength and unerring accuracy as he held off his opponent to score his 18th professional win and move closer to his dream of a world title shot.
Khan admitted he allowed a few errors to creep in but stressed his pursuit of a world title would not be halted.
"(I've moved] up a level now, fighting world-class fighters like Gomez," he said. "I made a couple of mistakes but you learn from them and every round I got better and better.
"I got caught with a left hook and I dropped my hands but I didn't make that same mistake again. It was one of those flash knockdowns but I got straight back up.
"He caught me with a couple of body shots but I did not want him to know I was hurt. This was one of my toughest fights but I learned from my mistakes. I will watch the video and work on them and continue my journey to the world title."
Gomez had always promised to make use his trademark ferocity to unsettle Khan and drag the Olympic silver medallist into the sort of war he had yet to encounter in his 17 professional fights to date.
But signs had suggested Gomez's best days were behind him and he was far from the same fighter who stunned a previously unbeaten Alex Arthur to score a famous career-best fifth-round knockout victory in Edinburgh in 2003.
