Amir Khan has retained his Commonwealth lightweight title after stopping Michael Gomez in five rounds in Birmingham.
Bolton fighter comes back from second-round knockdown
Amir Khan has retained his Commonwealth lightweight title, but only after climbing off the canvas to beat Michael Gomez in five thrilling rounds at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.
In a fiercely-contested bout, Khan was dropped by a crashing left hand from Gomez in round two, the latter defying pre-fight predictions that his opponent was in for an easy ride.
Gomez had already picked himself up from an opening-round knockdown, with the same happening in the fifth before a huge right from Khan saw referee John Keane stepping in to signal the end.
Thus, fighting a former British super-featherweight champion seeking his last shot at glory on his 31st birthday, Khan gained a valuable learning experience in taking his 18th professional win.
The victory also keeps the 21-year-old on course for a world title shot.
Gomez came into the fight having lost three of his last six, including a bizarre mid-round retirement against Peter McDonagh in 2006, and a sixth-round stoppage by Carl Johanneson in October last year.
Meanwhile, wins over Gairy St Clair and Martin Kristjansen had continued Khan's learning curve, but also underlined that he still has a number of improvements to make.
Nevertheless, immediately getting past his opponent's guard, he came close to a first-round win as a scything combination ended in a big right hand which dropped Gomez to the floor.
Spirit
The Manchester man showed spirit to climb back to his feet and hear the first bell - Gomez proceeding to almost turning the fight on its head in the second.
In spite of Khan's sharp shots, Gomez landed a left hook to Khan's jaw which briefly dropped the Bolton man.
But Khan regained his senses and soon had Gomez back in trouble with a left, with both men then exchanging left hooks at the end of a fast and furious round.
Khan continued to fire accurate right hands while Gomez, head down, sought to get inside his opponent.
Another left hook clattered into Gomez's by now bloodied cheek in the third but the challenger nevertheless made it safely to the end of the round.
Khan then forced Gomez from one side of the ring to the other with an incredible series of blows early in the fourth - the latter somehow finding the wherewithal to come through the punishment.
Although clearly tiring, Gomez was still giving enough to prevent Keane's intervention and, although he was dropped again early in the fifth with a left to the body, he got up and came back.
A straight left then caught Khan but Gomez's punches now lacked their early bite.
Sustained attack
The end came midway through the fifth when, under sustained attack from either hand, Gomez's brave challenge was finally brought to its conclusion.
"[I've moved] up a level now, fighting world class fighters like Gomez," Khan told
ITV1.
"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.
"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."
