Amir Khan Beats Samuel Vargas Via Unanimous Decision in Return to Ring

Amir Khan defeated Samuel Vargas via unanimous decision at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.

Khan established control of the fight early on, using his fast hands and aggressiveness to his advantage.

It wasn't until the final seconds of the second round that Vargas was able to get his first big blow, knocking his opponent to the mat.

However, Khan shook it off and came back strong.

The fight appeared to be on the brink of ending early in the fifth, but Vargas was able to withstand an onslaught of punches, even as he was bloodied. Khan continued to dominate the match, although Vargas made a late push, including an impressive Round 11 performance. 

In the end, though, Khan got the nod from the judges, via Matchroom Boxing: 

Khan (33-4-0) entered this bout having won six of his last seven fights, including a nice and tidy 39-second cleanup of Phil Lo Greco following a two-year absence from the ring. His only defeat during that span was when he squared off against Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2) back in May 2016.

And while some may be curious what the future holds for the 31-year-old boxer, Khan made it clear that all of his attention was on his current opponent.

"I have to get past Vargas before looking at the biggest challenges going forward," Khan said in June, per Matchroom Boxing. "I'm not going to be taking Vargas lightly because I know he will be coming with everything on September 8."

There was good reasoning for not overlooking Vargas. After all, the ninth-ranked welterweight, according to WBABoxing.com, entered the fight with a career record of 29-3-2. Like Khan, Vargas had not lost since 2016, when he was beaten by the then-undefeated Danny Garcia. The 29-year-old entered this showdown 9-1-1 in his last 11 bouts.

Vargas let fans know back in June that he would be ready for this highly anticipated battle.

"I have been granted more than enough time to properly prepare for Amir, and you will see the best Samuel Vargas to date," Vargas said, per Matchroom Boxing. "Mark my words, we might both be from the same city and county, but I am nothing like Phil Lo Greco; that's a guarantee—I'm going to give Amir hell."

Well, when Saturday arrived, he finally had his chance to back up his talk.

Khan continues to prove that his hands are still plenty fast enough to take down top fighters, even after being away from competitive boxing for nearly 24 months prior to May.