The flawed diamond that is Amir Khan was ruthlessly exposed last night as he suffered a devastating first-round knockout at the violently quick and powerful hands of Colombian opponent Breidis Prescott.

After 18 straight wins against an array of mostly light-punching opponents which had established Khan’s box-office appeal, the 21-year-old from Bolton was destroyed in 54 seconds by the fierce puncher from South America.

Prescott, a 25-year-old who had boxed only twice before outside his native Colombia and never outside of South America, while accumulating a record of 19 straight wins in three years, 17 by stoppage, had been confident from the moment he stepped off the plane that he would acquaint the 21-year-old Olympic silver medallist from Bolton with the harsh realities of the prize ring.

Some of these were articulated recently by former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, who was speaking of Khan when he warned: “I always tell kids that anybody with two fists, who can turn their weight over, can punch. If the target is open, if the defence is poor, hands down, chin up, feet all wrong, then any decent boxer can knock you over.”

Khan was not only knocked over by Prescott, he was clinically knocked out. Lauded on both sides of the Atlantic as the foremost prospect in boxing, he was hurt almost immediately by a right hand to the jaw thrown hard and accurately by the Colombian and, suddenly, he had the startled look of a deer caught in headlights. Prescott sensed his chance.

Standing tall and forcing maximum leverage into his punches, the Colombian assassin went for the quick kill. Two more right hands crashed into Khan’s jaw and, as his legs betrayed him and he went down, the 10,000-strong crowd registered their shock, but the man most shocked of all was Khan. He rose to his feet as referee Terry O’Connor tolled the mandatory eight-count but it was clear that his powers of resistance were gone.

Prescott moved in and drove Khan back into his own corner before delivering a hard right and wicked left to the chin that left Khan in a heap, his world title dreams in tatters and his distressed mother, sitting at ringside, in tears. O’Connor’s completion of the 10-count was a formality.

Despite the experienced manoeuvrings of his promoter, Frank Warren, whose matchmaking had secured Khan a top-10 ranking by the world sanctioning bodies, the danger signs had been there all along. Even in a dominating performance against light-punching Dane Martin Kristjansen in April at the Bolton Arena he betrayed a worrying vulnerability to being hit by a right hand over the top of his low left, the same punch with which Willie Limond, another light hitter, induced a serious crisis in his career by flooring him in the sixth round of their July 2007 bout.

Michel Gomez floored him in June and Gomez was five years removed from his last meaningful performance, a fifth-round knockout of Scotland’s Alex Arthur; the fact that his most productive fighting days took place in the super featherweight (9st 4lb) division discouraged any notion that Khan was ready to challenge for the world lightweight (9st 9lb) title.

“I have been working on things like keeping my hands in the correct position and moving with my hands up and keeping my feet together, stuff like that,” Khan said recently. “I have really enjoyed the work because I love learning, especially if I know it’s going to help me.” Unfortunately, it did not help him much into the burning cauldron of the prize ring.

Nate Campbell, who has stopped 25 of the 32 opponents he has beaten, had recognised the flaws. “Limond couldn’t even punch and he almost knocked him out, so what’s going to happen when he fights a guy who can box, throws in volume, can slug, has great defence, a great inside game and a great outside game?”

Campbell asked following Khan’s elevation to No 2 in the WBO rankings on the basis of his seventh-round stoppage of Kristjansen, which paved the way for a proposed title challenge by the end of this year. “He’s fighting guys like Kristjansen, who couldn’t score a knockout with a hammer.”

On the undercard, Arthur boxed a poor fight and was clearly outmanoeuvred by Dagenham’s Nicky Cook, who won the WBO super featherweight title by a unanimous points decision after 12 rounds. Cook opened up in the second round with a straight right which pierced Arthur’s guard and followed up with a left hook, his assertiveness proving the difference in the fight. A jab and right hand by Cook and another left hook to the head kept the challenger in control in round three. He was boxing well, landing another good one-two and making Arthur miss with a wild right hand before the bell.

Arthur began to box better in round four, connecting with a couple of right hands which sent Cook back-pedalling. Much to his frustration, he was unable to build momentum in round five, but Arthur’s strength won him the sixth. Several times he caught Cook with jabs and right hands, the effect of which was evident on the damage to his nose. Cook turned the tide again in the seventh with two left hooks and a right to the jaw which knocked Arthur into the ropes. Arthur responded with a heavy right to the jaw before the end of the round but Cook was the more aggressive.

The Scot was being outworked, getting caught by long, sucker right hands and sharp left hooks in close. His own jab was virtually non-existent and, meanwhile, he was being picked off by Cook’s left hand. The Dagenham boxer wilted perceptibly in the penultimate round as Arthur tagged him with two strong right hands to the chin but he finished strongly and deserved his win.

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