Title shot will have to wait!

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), June 23, 2008

AMIR KHAN has been warned he must wait for his world title shot after Michael Gomez exposed more flaws in the Bolton 21-year-old's armoury in a ferocious five-round showdown in Birmingham.

A sustained assault from Khan finally persuaded referee John Keane to stop the extraordinarily brave Gomez at 2.32 of the fifth round but not before the favourite had hit the canvas for the second time in his professional career.

Khan, who had looked on course for a quick finish when he decked Gomez with a big right hand in the opening round, was toppled by a corkscrewing left uppercut to the jaw from Gomez in the second.

Al though Khan rose quickly to his feet and showed few ill-effects as he got back to dominating a fast and furious contest, his performance persuaded promoter Frank Warren there is no need to rush his major asset into world title contention.

Warren said: "Amir is still not ready to fight for a world title. He needs some more schooling. There's no doubt he's a got a big heart but sometimes he fights with his head rather than his heart and that's what we've got to work on.

"We just need to put the brakes on a little bit. There's no timetable. I could make a world title fight tomorrow but it's all about waiting for the right moment. Joe Calzaghe was 25 before he fought for his first world title."

Khan showed significant improvements in some areas as he clattered Gomez with shots of unerring accuracy and also proved he could take some punishment as the Manchester man continued to have his moments of success.

But he admitted his fourth Commonwealth lightweight title defence had been his toughest, and agreed with Warren that his learning curve is far from over.

Khan said: "I should have listened more. Sometimes I do fight with my heart rather than my head. But these are exactly the type of fights I need at this stage in my career.

"Michael Gomez will give anyone a tough fight and I have a lot of respect for him.

He caught me with a few good shots but I took them and I came back. I 've learned more from this fight than if I had won it in one round."

Gomez, who turned 31 on the day of the fight, always gave Khan problems and was moving forward from the first bell.

Huddersfield prospect Tyrone Nurse sparred with both fighters in the build-up to the fight.