Amir Khan sets sights on belt unification and foreign shores after chaotic win

AMIR Khan was keen to move on to bigger and better things after an unsavoury week ended with an unsatisfactory win over furious WBA light-welterweight title challenger Paul McCloskey.

The 24-year-old champion kept his belt on Saturday night with a unanimous decision win after a cut near McCloskey's left eye prompted a controversial early finish in Manchester.

The anti-climactic ending and subsequent fall-out rounded off an unpleasant week in which the build-up to the fight was overshadowed by Khan's row with broadcasters Sky and defection to minor player Primetime TV.

Post-fight talk was dominated by McCloskey's demands for a rematch - and Khan's promotional team putting out public relations fires - but the man himself was happy just to focus on his next assignment, when he bids to add Timothy Bradley's WBC and WBO titles to his own WBA belt.

He said: "My promotional team looks after all that so Oscar (De La Hoya] is going to go back to America and see what we can do for the unification fight.

"Bradley is a good fighter but that's just going to push me and motivate me. These big fights in the future only make you a better fighter.

"Oscar will tell you, these big fights are always going to push you. When I go back to LA for my training camp, knowing it is Bradley I'm fighting is going to push me even more. I feel there's levels in boxing, and Bradley is the same level as me. We're in the world class level.

"I'm happy to see what happens with the next fight. We've talked of unification fights and that's my ambition, and I'm going to leave it to Golden Boy. I'm sure in the next couple of days we'll find out what the score is."

Khan is highly unlikely to fight on British soil again for the foreseeable future as Golden Boy Promotions chief De La Hoya continues to build his profile in the United States.

The American fight legend, now arguably the world's leading promoter, will perhaps be glad to see the back of England after a difficult week for Khan's team.

Firstly Sky decided to downgrade the fight from Sky Box Office to Sky Sports 3, prompting Khan's team to turn their back on the broadcasting giant and throw their lot in with obscure pay-TV channel Primetime.

A bad week was compounded by the outcome of the fight as a healthy MEN Arena crowd of around 18,000 was left disappointed by referee Luis Pabon's questionable decision to call the fight off on doctor's advice without giving McCloskey's team the chance to work on the cut.

McCloskey and his promoters Barry and Eddie Hearn from Matchroom were left raging by the decision and called for a rematch. However, as a voluntary defence and with Khan winning every round on the scorecards, their calls will prove to be in vain.

An angry Barry Hearn said the ending was "the most staggering decision I've ever seen at any ring at any time anywhere in the world", while the previously unbeaten Ulsterman fumed: "It's a disgrace. After that performance, is he a pound-for-pound champion? I don't think so."