Khan vs. Salita – English WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan will put his belt on the line against New York’s Dmitriy Salita tonight at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England.

It goes without saying that this bout carries racial and religious implications as this is believed to be the first time in boxing history that a Muslim will take on a Jew in a world title fight. Khan is one of the prominent figures in the British Muslim community, while Salita has become a symbol of Jewish culture in the New York area.

Both fighters made weight Friday, Khan weighed in at 139.5 pounds, while Salita came in at the junior welterweight limit of 140.

The 22-year-old Khan has a record of 21W-1L, with 15 victories coming out in a way of knockout. He has won three straight since being knocked out by Breidis Prescott in their clash last September 2008.

“You know what I learned in the Prescott fight is that you can’t just rush in,” Khan, who turns 23 on Tuesday, told FanHouse recently.

“I’ll respect Dmitriy Salita as an opponent,” said Khan, “but I also think that, if I take my time, and execute the game plan that we’ve been working on, that I will not only be able to hurt him, but that I’ll be able to knock him out.”

Ukranian-born Salita, 27, is still undefeated with an impressive record of 30 wins with 16 knockouts. He  has won six consecutive fights since battling to a draw with Ramon Montano last March 2006.

Khan who has been training with Freddie Roach, the coach of eighth-time world champion Manny Pacquiao, will be making the first defense of his title that he claimed with a unanimous points victory over Andreas Kotelnik in Manchester in July.

UPDATE: Amir Khan retained his WBA junior-welterweight title with a magnificent first-round knockout of Dmitriy Salita.

WATCH:

You can watch the full fight video here: Amir Khan vs. Dmitriy Salita (Full Fight Video)