Cracker from Khan on his 21st by Kevin Taylor Dec 9th 2007

Amir Khan celebrated his 21st birthday with a devastating stoppage of former British and Commonwealth champion in less than two minutes of the first round at the Bolton Arena on Saturday night. Earl undoubtedly represented the toughest test of Khan's career to date but many felt his brutal defeat at the hands of Michael Katsidis in February may have been a fight too many for the Luton based Duke of Earl and the bookies certainly saw it that way with some having Earl 11/2 to win the bout, but not many expected Khan to get the job done so quickly. A good left hook rocked Earl less than a minute into the contest and when Khan followed up with another, Earl was open and the resulting punch sent him to the canvas, referee Howard Foster administered a mandatory eight count and allowed Earl to continue although it was only a matter of time before the young Olympic silver medallist landed a flurry of punches which left Foster with no option but to stop the fight. Khan will next box on the 2nd February at the Excel Arena in London and he is looking at a possible shot at the European title against Belarusian Yuri Romanov a former victim of Graham Earl, although Jon Thaxton still seems to be on the radar, although his handlers are claiming he's already above domestic level. Earl was critical of Foster's early stoppage of the bout as most boxer's are but he can have no qualms once he watches a replay of the fight. "He's sharp and strong, but they shouldn't have stopped the fight there - I knew what was going on, my head was clear, you've got to take shots, it's boxing, it happens." he insisted "I'll be back stronger. It's my division" he added. On the undercard Dean Francis defended his Commonwealth light-heavyweight title with a unanimous point's victory against Michael Gbenga in a rather uninspiring encounter. At the end of the 12-round contest all three judges scored the bout for Francis by scores of 117-112 twice and 118-110.

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