Fantastic four: Khan’s title hunt brings more silverware glory

Bradford boxer Tasif Khan rounded off his ‘perfect 2016’ by clinching a second world title in Bradford last weekend, defeating Ghanaian Michael Barnor for the WBC Bantamweight belt.

In front of a packed audience at The Bradford Hotel, the 33-year-old took just three rounds to earn a knockout victory against his seasoned opponent after a barrage of shots to the head and body.

Khan, who now has three world titles and an international master’s belt around his waist, stepped up a weight division to fight Barnor yet showed no signs of being overpowered.

Speaking after his victory, he said it was a night which ‘eclipses’ all others.

 “The whole night was absolutely amazing,” he said. “This is the dream I have had since a kid – to become a champion – and now I have four titles around my waist. It is beyond anything I could have hoped for.”

He added: “For any fighter, the aim is to win as many belts as you can. That is the reason really why we took the risk to move up a weight and, as you can see, it paid off on the night.

“It was just about whether I could keep the power I have in super flyweight and be able to make a difference at the weight group above.”

For one of the first times in his professional boxing career, Khan came into the fight as the smaller boxer.

However, despite possessing a shorter reach, the local champ was able to land a number of heavy shots on Barnor throughout the first and second rounds.

By the third, and what turned out to be the final round, it was clear that there was only going to be one winner.

“I could sense that he was hurt in the second,” Khan added. “His mouthpiece was coming out and he was shrinking into himself with every hit.

“I knew all these heavy shots would take their toll eventually and I just had to be patient. It is exactly what we trained for and I believe he had nothing left by the end of it.”

With an impressive collection of titles to his name across two divisions, Khan says he will now drop back down to his original weight for his next bout.

Potential challengers are already being touted by different associations, whilst the possibility of even more silverware in the not-too-distant future cannot, according to the champ himself, be ruled out.

He said: “I’ll be going back to super flyweight for my next fight and I’ve heard that there is a chance that the WBC want to introduce a title at that weight which I could go for.

“There has also been talk of fighting in America but we need to sit down as a team and discuss the options in front of us before we can really say ‘what next’.

“Looking at the big picture, I now have three world titles and that only opens more doors for me in the future.”