( CNN ) -- British world champion Amir Khan retained his World Boxing Association ( WBA ) light-welterweight title on Saturday night with a clinical stopppage victory over challenger Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden , New York . The 23-year-old Khan , who was making his big-fight debut on American soil , impressed throughtout with his speed and power before eventually stopping his opponent in the 11th round of the 12-round contest . Khan , who was ahead on all three of the judges scorecards when the referee stopped the fight one minute and 25 seconds into the round , improves his record to 23-1 , while Malignaggi -- who lost to Khan 's compatriot Ricky Hatton in 2008 -- was slumping to the fourth defeat of his career . There had been bad blood between both fighters and their respective camps in the lead-up to the contest , including a scuffle during the weigh-in , but the actual bout passed off without any incidents of that nature . Former Olympic silver medallist Khan told ESPN : `` I 'm making 140lb easy , I feel strong . `` I 'm not leaving 140lb until I unify the title . Until I 'm number one I 'm not going to leave this division . '' `` We stuck to the game plan , we knew Paulie is a very awkward fighter , he 's a great boxer , great at moving . `` We had to break him down slowly , we did n't want to run in there trying to knock him out because we would have got caught with shots . I knew in the last few rounds I was hurting him and all I had to do was put the pressure on him . ''
British world champion Amir Khan retains his WBA light - welterweight title . The 23-year - old Khan defeated American Paulie Malignaggi in the 11th round . The Madison Square Garden fight marked Khan 's big - fight debut on American television .