Khan retains title as bout is stopped in 11th round

Amir Khan came to town looking to prove he could win a big fight outside of his native United Kingdom.

With a lethal left jab, he didn't just beat Paulie Malignaggi - Khan dominated the Brooklyn native on his home turf.

Khan retained his WBA super lightweight title last night at The Theater in Madison Square Garden when the referee stopped the bout 1 minute, 25 seconds into the 11th round, declaring Malignaggi unable to continue with his left eye swelling shut.

It was a complete effort from Khan. From the opening minutes of round one, Khan (23-1) established that left jab, hardly missing with it all night. Malignaggi (27-4) had no answer for it and could never duck it when he tried to attack.

"Me and Freddie [Roach, his trainer] have been working on that jab for a long time," Khan said. "And it worked well every time tonight."

Malignaggi went down in the fifth round, but it was a push by Khan. The champion didn't need any real knockdowns; the entire 12-round bout was an exhibition of precision boxing by the 23-year-old.

Malignaggi tried to take a more aggressive tack in the second and third rounds, but he could not hurt Khan with anything. And in the middle rounds, Khan unleashed a couple of hard right hooks that staggered Malignaggi and kept the 29-year-old American at bay.

Khan delivered a combination in the ninth round that elicited the largest cries from the crowd of 4,412, which was split fairly evenly for the two fighters. It was just one of a dozen sequences in the fight when Khan used his quick hands and sure footwork to knock Malignaggi back, and there were no responses from the challenger's side.

"I was a little nervous coming in, my first fight away from home, Khan said. "And I was fighting in his hometown. But we had a game plan and we stuck to it."

Malignaggi had talked a great game before the fight and there was even a bit of a shoving match at Friday's weigh-in. But there were no words necessary last night. Khan did his talking in the ring, as he promised he would.

"I was fighting a clone of myself from when I was younger," Malignaggi said. "He's a young guy and he had that youthful enthusiasm."

On an undercard bout, Danny Jacobs, a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, dispatched Juan Astorga on a TKO 51 seconds into the second round to claim the NABF middleweight title and defend the NABO middleweight crown. Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs) knocked Astorga down four times before the fight was stopped.

Earlier, Breidis Prescott (22-2, 19 KOs) stopped Jason Davis at welterweight to snap a two-fight losing streak. The power puncher knocked out Khan two years ago.