Boxing
Nick Parkinson 8y

Fighting pride: Britons who enjoyed career-defining nights in Vegas

Amir Khan is hoping to add his name to a small group of British boxers who have hit the jackpot with career-defining victories in Las Vegas.

Khan will have to upset the odds in the world's gambling mecca when he steps up two divisions to challenge Mexican Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez for his WBC world middleweight title at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

If Khan succeeds he will follow in the footsteps of some of Britain's best boxers who have won big in Vegas.

Alan Minter

Opponent: Vito Antuofermo
Date: March 16, 1980
Result: Victory on points after 15 rounds

The Crawley middleweight became the first Briton to claim a world title in Las Vegas when he toppled Italian Vito Antuofermo on points. Minter lifted the WBC and WBA world titles by split decision at Caesars Palace.

Nigel Benn

Opponent: Iran Barkley
Date: August 18, 1990
Result: Victory by knockout in round one

Londoner Nigel Benn made a stunning WBO middleweight title first defence after flooring American Iran Barkley -- a former world champion -- three times in a first-round stoppage win at Bally's.

Lennox Lewis

Opponent: Evander Holyfield
Date: November 13, 1999
Result: Victory on points after 12 rounds

The London-born heavyweight beat Evander Holyfield to become undisputed world heavyweight champion with a unanimous points decision for the IBF, WBC and WBA belts at the Thomas & Mack Centre. Victory was sweet for Lewis who had been held to a controversial draw with Holyfield earlier in the year in New York.

Opponent: Hasim Rahman
Date: November 17, 2001
Result: Victory by knockout in round four

Lewis regained his WBC and IBF world heavyweight titles with a fourth round KO of American Hasim Rahman at the Mandalay Bay Resort. Rahman had upset the odds by stopping an ill-prepared Lewis in the fifth round in South Africa earlier that year. Lewis got paid $11million for the rematch which saw him become a three-time world champion.

Joe Calzaghe

Opponent: Bernard Hopkins
Date: April 19, 2008
Result: Victory on points after 12 rounds

Welshman Joe Calzaghe stepped up a division and recovered from an early scare when he was decked in the first round to out-point Bernard Hopkins at the Thomas & Mack Center. Calzaghe's split decision in the light-heavyweight bout looks better with hindsight as Hopkins went on to win the world title and beat younger men.

Ricky Hatton

Opponent: Jose Luis Castillo
Date: June 23, 2007
Result: Victory by knockout in round four

Ricky Hatton's finest moment in Las Vegas was when the Manchester boxer clinically finished off Mexico's former world lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo with a left hook to the body at the Thomas & Mack Center. After the fourth round win, Hatton successfully called out Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight him next. Fighting Mayweather earned Hatton $10 million.

The defeats

It hasn't all been plain-sailing for British heroes in Las Vegas. If Khan does suffer defeat by the explosive Canelo, he will join a long list of Britons who have endured painful nights in boxing's capital city. Among the most notable are Barry McGuigan's loss of his WBA featherweight title to the unfancied Steve Cruz in 1986, or Frank Bruno's pair of brutal knockout losses to Mike Tyson in 1989 and 1996. And for all the plaudits he received for knocking out Castillo in 2007, Hatton is perhaps best remembered for his defeats by Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in 2007 and 2009 respectively. It's a brutal game and Khan knows the risks.

^ Back to Top ^