Everything about boxing's latest attempt to bring the sport to Saudi Arabia made it seem like it was a major, global event.
From appearances from the likes of Chuck Liddell, Lennox Lewis and Israel Adesanya and even a musical performance from Tyga and Rick Ross, the city of Jeddah looked to steal the weekend's loaded slate of boxing events. Then came the actual boxing fights, headlined by the return of Amir Khan.
It took Khan less than four complete rounds to easily dispatch the much smaller Billy Dib in the main event to win the WBC International welterweight title. Dib's corner threw in the towel after Khan knocked him down in the fourth round, ending the one-sided fight. The first knockdown came from a left hook in the second round that landed right on Dib's face. The fight ended with Khan landing a combination of shots to the body, ending with a left hook to Dib's jaw that sent him to the canvas, resulting in the towel being thrown.
Originally, the fight was supposed to have Khan face Neeraj Goyat, but after Goyat suffered injuries in a car accident, Dib stepped in to face Khan. However, Dib was already facing a very uphill battle as Dib fought at super featherweight, three weight classes lower than welterweight, less than a year ago when he lost to Tevin Farmer in an IBF title fight.
This was Khan's first win since September 2018 when he defeated Samuel Vargas in Birmingham, England. After that fight against Vargas, Khan went on to unsuccessfully challenge for Terence Crawford's WBO welterweight title last April at Madison Square Garden, losing by sixth-round TKO.
The card also featured Hughie Fury, cousin of former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, beating 38-year-old Samuel Peter. The fight was sluggish and filled with multiple fouls, ending with Peter being unable to continue fighting past the seventh round due to an apparent shoulder injury. Peter hit multiple low blows and punches to the back of Fury's head, but Fury eventually got the win, his second straight since losing to Kubrat Pulev last October.
Also on the show was Prince Patel suffering his first pro defeat at the hands of Michell Banquez with the IBO bantamweight title on the line. Banquez won the fight by unanimous decision with scores of 118-110, 119-109 and 119-109.