By Carlos Arias

LAS VEGAS --- Amir Khan looked strong in his welterweight debut, knocking down Luis Collazo three times en route to a 12-round unanimous decision on the Mayweather-Maidana undercard on Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

"I had my first fight at 147 (pounds) after spending about 30 months out of the ring," Khan said. "I did feel a bit rusty. I did spend a lot of time in the ring with (trainer) Virgil (Hunter) and I can see how my style is changing. I always said I'd be a better fighter at 147 because I used to kill myself getting to 140."

Khan said he had a lot of respect for Collazo.

"He's one of them fighters who makes everyone look bad," Khan said. "I'm lucky to have a great performance against him. I've seen his previous fights he lost against Shane Mosley, Andre Berto, Ricky Hatton. I mean, I knew he was going to be a war. No matter what it was going to be a hard tough fight. I'm glad it's over. Now, we're going to move on to bigger and better things. I think I should fight Mayweather next. I'm going to leave it to my team, Golden Boy, and Richard (Schaefer)."

Khan said he had to be very disciplined and stick to the game plan against Collazo.

"I had to be disciplined," Khan said. "It's my first fight at this weight, so I had to be more disciplined and watch what moves I make. It was going to be hard no matter what. Like I said, that style, he makes it hard for everyone. So I just had to be one step ahead. My trainer, Virgil, we worked very hard. Also my strength and conditioning (coach) Tony Braden. You could see the power of the shots. I mean, I don't think anyone has put him down clean. We put him down a couple of times and I think the power shows that we are at this weight.

"It's in my blood. Sometimes I want to get in there and get into a little fight, but I had to stay disciplined. The last 12 months taught me a lot. Spending time with Virgil in the gym made me a lot more mature and understand the sport of boxing."

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