defence of his WBA light-welterweight title. In front of a crowd of 4,412, in a one-sided fight, Khan retained his title after referee Steve Smoger halted the fight at 1 minute 25 seconds of round eleven. In the aftermath Malignaggi admitted he lost to the better man, saying, "I've fought two elite fighters, Miguel Cotto and Amir Khan. From here, I'm not sure where I go. I'll sit down with my team. I don't want to be a punching bag." Khan showed his speed, power and combinations throughout the fight and proved to be too much for Malignaggi. Immediately after the fight, Khan stated he wanted to fight Marcos Maidana next, and that he would not be leaving the light-welterweight division until he had unified the various belts, suggesting that the way to do this would be for him to fight Maidana, and then go on to face the winner of a Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley match. Maidana (29–1, 27 KOs), after failing to challenge undefeated WBO light-welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, postponed the fight to 19 June due to a back injury. On 3 May, Maidana pulled out of the fight again, still citing his back as the problem. The fight had already been rescheduled from 19 June to 17 July, and Bradley went on to fight Luis Carlos Abregu on 17 July, instead of Maidana. After failing to secure the fight with Bradley, Maidana's camp announced that he would fight former WBO light-welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley, on 28 August 2010 at the Luna Park Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Maidana went on to win by UD. Khan continued to look for a suitable opponent to challenge next for his title. One of his possible opponents was lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez decided not to move up in weight and stayed at lightweight. Maidana then stated his intention to fight Khan: "Stop looking for possible opponents for next Khan 11 December in England. Stop looking for lightweight boxers and face the real 140-pounders. I'll go to Khan's home soil to take the other portion of the WBA title that belongs to me." The fight was confirmed on 16 September to take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 11 December. Khan was reported to earn at least $1.5million compared to Maidana who had a purse of $550,000. Khan successfully defended his title for the third time