Florian Marku produced a stunning fourth-round stoppage of Chris Jenkins to retain the IBF international welterweight title and immediately demanded: “Give me Amir Khan!”
The Albanian, roared on by a large and vociferous support in Newcastle on the undercard of Savannah Marshall’s world title defence against Femke Hermans, was pushed by former British champion Jenkins in the early rounds.
But a huge right hook from Marku to Jenkins’ head in the fourth set up a devastating sequence of punches which resulted in referee Steve Gray waving off the contest and seeing the former mixed martial arts fighter move to a record of 11(7)-0-1.
British fighter Chris Kongo, mentioned as a potential next opponent, was among those watching ringside, but Marku immediately turned his attention to some of the biggest names in the division, including former world champion Khan.
“Please, don’t mention these kinds of names because when I was on my way up, these people were avoiding me,” Marku said over the prospect of facing Kongo next.
“Now I’m making a lot of noise, a lot of good wins, all the people start calling me out. Listen, I want the son of Nigel Benn [Conor Benn], Kell Brook, Amir Khan – give me these type of men and you will see how I fight with them.
“Don’t mention anyone else, give me one of them and you’ll see what I can do.
“I’m still learning, don’t forget I’m only three years in the boxing game and Chris won the British title and many people avoid. But listen, give me Amir Khan next – I’m going to break him.”
Welshman Jenkins (28(8)-5-3) made a fine start to the contest, landing some early blows and keeping Marku on his toes with a nice variety of punches.
An accidental clash of heads in third left Marku with a cut above his left eye and that led to him forcing the pace in the fourth, eventually yielding a devastating knock-out with Jenkins unable to respond to a barrage of punches.
“I started rushing because I felt the cut was maybe too big and I was afraid of the referee stopping me,” Marku said. “That’s why I started pushing the pace high.
Zak Chelli handed Zak Kilgannon his first professional defeat
“Today, I showed something we have learned. I didn’t show many, but nobody stops him like this in four rounds – show me, who, ever?
“Chris Jenkins, I have respect for him – congratulations. He accepted the fight with me, I wanted to show the UK fans that I didn’t come by luck where I am today. I give my heart when I go to the ring. Today, I out-boxed the boxer.”
Elsewhere on the card, Zak Chelli (11(6)-1-1) produced a stunning sixth-round stoppage win over late replacement opponent Zak Kilgannon (11(3)-1) in a super-middleweight clash.
Chelli, who was cut earlier in the round by an accidental clash of heads, caught Kilgannon with a huge overhand right and followed up with a two-punch combination to send him to the canvas, handing a first professional loss to the 26-year-old.
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