By Chris LaBate

WBA/IBF junior welterweight champion Amir Khan has praised Saturday's performance by Paul McCloskey (22-1, 12KOs). The Irish boxer won a very close twelve round decision over Breidis Prescott (24-3, 19KOs) in a WBA junior welterweight eliminator. The scores were 114-113, 115-113 and 114-113 for McCloskey.

The Irish boxer had a packed arena of fans cheering him on with every landed punch. He lost a six round technical decision to Khan in April - after the fight was stopped early from a cut on McCloskey which he sustained from an earlier clash of heads. Prescott was Khan's most infamous opponent. He stopped the British boxer in 54-seconds back in 2008.

Now McCloskey is the mandatory challenger to WBA "regular" champion Marcos Maidana. If he defeats Maidana for the title, Khan believes a rematch would be huge.

"Great win for Paul Mccloskey. He stuck in there all the way and turned it around. He deserved the win. Well done, my prediction was right. Mccloskey got great support. Let's hope he goes all the way and wins a world title. A rematch will be huge. He really impressed me tonight," Khan said.