Before a passionate and excited crowd at the Kings Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, British stars Amir Khan, Danny Williams and Mehrdud Takaloo all picked up victories, albeit in entirely different ways.

Khan, the unbeaten Olympic silver medalist, was in ebullient form, giving the locals a dazzling display of speed and style as he virtually shut out former European title challenger Laszlo Komjathi in a lightweight 6 round attraction. Khan, who had ran up an effortless 6-0-0 (5) log since turning professional one year ago, was made to work hard by a veteran of 35 contests. Khan’s blurring combinations won him the opening three rounds with ease, but the tough Hungarian came back into the fight in the 4th and 5th. Although they were still Khan rounds, he was backed up to the ropes frequently and forced to taste some of his opponent’s leather.
 
Still, he have a grandstand finish to collect a deserved 60-55 victory from referee Mickey Vann, who presumably gave Komjathi a share of the 4th, which was his best spell in the fight. Khan, who had made headlines last week by offering to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr over 4 rounds, is still a work in progress, but at 19 years of age is already looking stronger and shedding his amateur style as he goes. Promoter Frank Warren announced that the Bolton wonderkid would be on the big July 8th Joe Calzaghe bill.

Danny Williams came in at late notice to bulk up the card suffering slightly from the withdrawal of WBO featherweight titlist Scott Harrison, who had been due to defend here against Gary St Clair before committing himself to a clinic for severe depression just days before the show. In came Danny Williams, who looked lean and in shape, but was understandably lacking in timing and sharpness as he overcame Adnan Serin of Germany via a nasty cut in three rounds. Outweighing his opponent by some 40-odd pounds, Williams put the stocky German down in the opening round with a piston-like jab. Serin bounced up, looking embarrassed, and made it through the round. He actually had a decent spell in the second as he pressured Williams, who was content to lay back on the ropes and let his opponent wear himself out. However, after an extended assault from the heavy-handed Williams at the end of the 2nd, Serin emerged with blood trickling down his face. Replays showed a clash of heads had caused the cut, and as the injury degenerated in the third round the fight was waved off, leaving Danny to look forward to his big July 8th rematch with Matt Skelton, and then a mooted WBA title shot against Nicolay Valuev sometime in the Winter.

The nominal main event turned out to be a damp squib, as Iranian-Englishman Mehrdud Takaloo used his smarts to win a dull 12 round decision over Irish hard man Eamonn Magee, who at 34 years of age looked like a tough career, not to mention a horrific broken leg suffered in an attack in his native Belfast, had all caught up with him.
 
Magee, a former world rated jr welter who had moved up to welterweight following the leg injury, looked to use his southpaw counters to nick the rounds, but Takaloo was having none of it. Instead, he used his reach and speed to land quick one-two’s before nipping back out of range, leaving Magee to swipe thin air. The crowd were muted throughout, obviously disappointed with the lack of fire from Magee, who let the rounds drift away from him. At the final bell he looked fed up, and the scores went against him by 113-115, 112-116 and a weird 114-114. For Takaloo, it was the third straight victory at welterweight after being bombed out by puncher Waybe Alexander at 154lbs, and his record now reads 24-5-0.
 
Afterwards, Magee asked for a rematch, but it is doubtful who would want to see another 12 rounds of this.

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