On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA light-welterweight title against undefeated Dmitry Salita (30–0–1, 16 KOs), the mandatory challenger, on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Due to Khan being a practising Muslim and Salita being an Orthodox Jew, the fight was hyped as a religious clash by the media, referring to it as a "battle of faiths" or "holy war", though Khan and Salita both denied such claims. On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated Salita in 76 seconds, winning by TKO in the first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time just 10 seconds into the fight. It was the first loss of Salita's career.