Arena in Manchester for the WBA light-welterweight title on 18 July. Khan Said, "This is the best news that I could have received. To fight for the world title in only my 22nd fight and at the age of just 22 is fantastic. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out win it." This would be Kotelnik's fourth title defence. Khan won by unanimous decision (UD), 120–108, 118–111, 118–111, in front of 10,000, and became the third-youngest Brit to win a world title, at the age of 22. Khan used his hand speed and fitness to go well ahead on points in the first ten rounds. Kotelnik rallied in the closing rounds but could not land a decisive punch on Khan in spite of his best efforts. After the fight, Khan said, "It's the best feeling ever. I want to thank Freddie Roach and my team for making this happen. I'm a world champion and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm still young and I've got big things to come." On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA light-welterweight title against undefeated Dmitry Salita (30–0–1, 16 KOs), the mandatory challenger, on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Due to Khan being a practising Muslim and Salita being an Orthodox Jew, the fight was hyped as a religious clash by the media, referring to it as a "battle of faiths" or "holy war", though Khan and Salita both denied such claims. On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated Salita in 76 seconds, winning by TKO in the first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time just 10 seconds into the fight. It was the first loss of Salita's career. On 17 January 2010, Khan announced he had split with promoter Frank Warren and signed a deal with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, which resulted in Khan's fights moving back to ITV. Khan vs. Malignaggi, Maidana On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that Khan and former light-welterweight world champion Paulie Malignaggi would hold a press conference in London to announce their world title bout set for 15 May at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. This was Khan's first bout in the United States and the second