Amir Khan stops Zab Judah in fifth

Zab Judah might have disputed the ending, but there was no decrying the harsh lessons that the younger champion Amir Khan delivered his older Brooklyn opponent Saturday.

Khan picked apart Judah in the fifth round, and landed another stiff right to the face that caused the 33-year-old Judah to bend downward. Seeing another hole, Khan threw a hard right uppercut that struck Judah on the top half of the belt.

Judah sank to the canvas, referee Vic Drakulich told him to get up and began counting toward a knockout — six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

Photos: Amir Khan vs. Zab Judah

At the 2:47 mark of the fifth, Khan had won.

Judah was able to spring up then, only in argument mode.

“It was a low blow,” Judah said afterward. “I was trying to get myself together and that was self-defense. [The punch] lifted my belt.”

The complaint was in vain. It was a legal blow.

The 24-year-old British Khan improved to 26-1 with his 18th knockout, and the 33-year-old Judah (41-7) handed over his International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight belt to Khan’s collection, which includes a World Boxing Assn. belt.

Khan outpunched Judah 284-115 and landed more than triple the punches (61-20). He bloodied Judah’s lip in the second round, continued landing blows to the face in the third and expertly followed several jabs with a hard right to Judah’s mug in the fourth.

“I knew he was getting hurt,” Khan said afterward. “He kept moving away and ducking. I kept hitting him right in the face, and the shot that knocked him out was right on the belt. … It was only a matter of time.”

Perhaps in early 2012, Khan will be able to fight Coachella Valley’s Timothy Bradley for all four major titles.

“If Bradley didn’t want to fight him before, he doesn’t want to fight him now,” Khan promoter Richard Schaefer said after the bout, listing the Aug. 27 Robert Guerrero-Marcos Maidana winner or Erik Morales as other possible December foes for Khan.

The unbeaten Bradley, nicknamed “Desert Storm,” declined the match earlier this year as he negotiates a split with his promoters and he told The Times in a Saturday night telephone interview that he anticipates a 2012 Khan bout after a tuneup fight in the fall.

“He’s not ready for ‘The Storm,’ I’m not impressed,” Bradley said. “I know all the comments that are coming about this Khan performance, but I’m not stressing. … No way possible he can be No. 1 [at 140 pounds]. When we do get in the ring, everyone will see who the best in the world is.”

What Khan showed Saturday before the ending was another advanced level under the guidance of Hollywood’s famed trainer Freddie Roach, who also counts Manny Pacquiao in his stable.

Khan’s precision against Judah showed the Roach effect, and what the Brit ensured Saturday is that the payday with Bradley will be richer than the $1 million-plus he collected in the softer touch versus Judah.

Photos: Amir Khan vs. Zab Judah

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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