Amir Khan refuted accusations he floored Zab Judah with a low blow after he clinched his light-welterweight unification fight with a fifth-round stoppage in Las Vegas. Judah was left angered after he was counted out after he had believed he would be given time to recover from a punch he thought was below the belt. Sections of the Mandelay Bay Events Center were left booing as Khan was handed the victory, to ensure the Bolton fighter added the IBF world title to his own WBA belt.

Judah claimed he thought Drakulich's count was to give him time to recover from the perceived low blow and only realised his error when it was too late.

"I don't make any excuses but that was a low shot," he said. "I went down and the referee was counting, I figured he was counting for a low blow - the eight count to get myself together. "But when I heard him say 'nine, 10, it's over' I said, 'what do you mean it's over, it's a low blow'. We'll have the right people take a look at it. But Khan fought a good fight."

The controversy failed to mask the fact that Judah had been well beaten by a vastly superior opponent. Unable to cope with Khan's speed and aggression, the 33-year-old was dominated throughout and had begun to take significant punishment before the decisive blow was landed. Khan had won all four previous rounds on each judge's scorecard.