Boxing: Khan pledges knockout statement to US market by flooring Salita

(PA)

Amir Khan has vowed to "make a statement" against WBA light-welterweight challenger Dmitriy Salita as he looks ahead to unification title fights next year.

The Bolton fighter puts his world title on the line in Newcastle tomorrow for the first time since dethroning the Ukrainian Andreas Kotelnik in the summer. He will not be taking unbeaten mandatory challenger Salita lightly, but has one eye on adding further more belts to his WBA strap. "Now I've hit world-class level," Khan said, "I don't want to just beat these people, I want to knock them out. When I beat this guy – an American opponent – it's going to spring me up in America. More people will get to know me and we'll take it from there.

"[Trainer] Freddie [Roach] is a great help as well, being an American coach. We have a lot of offers and pulling power and we'll take it from there. We'll go in and sort this guy [Salita] out. I can see in his eyes he's worried. We'll get this fight over with and get together to see where we go from here."