Devastating knockdown for Amir Khan sees Danny Garcia take his title

 

For the second time in his career Amir Khan has been dispatched to the darkest of places in his profession, and he will need all his considerable determination to recover from a devastating fourth-round stoppage here by the unbeaten Philadelphian Danny Garcia.
The fight – for Khan's recently returned WBA light-welterweight belt and Garcia's WBC version – looked to be going the Bolton boxer's way until the final seconds of the third round when he was felled by a left hook behind the ear, and we were in Breidis Prescott territory again.
Just as the Colombian kayo artist exposed his chin inside a minute in Manchester four years ago, Garcia found the sweet spot twice more, when he stunned his still zombie-like opponent at the start of the fourth with a glancing blow then, 32 seconds from the end, finished with another left, to the top of his head. Khan wobbled south, wobbled north, looked with dazed eyes at Kenny Bayless, one of the best referees in the business, and it was over.
It was a great brawl and, for Khan, a stupid boxing match, as he admitted later after watching a replay of the finish. "I saw I was coming in with my hands down and Danny took advantage," he said. "I respect Danny. He was countering very well against me, I got a little complacent and he caught me.
"I was a little surprised when the referee stopped it. My mind was clear and my legs were OK. I respect the commission and the officials. Who knows? Maybe they made the right call."
There can be no doubt about that.
The call that matters now is what Khan does to resurrect a career that, until he lost a controversial decision to Lamont Peterson in Washington last December, was headed on railroad lines towards a super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr. That, clearly, is now well off the agenda.
He will go away, examine what went catastrophically wrong again, and make probably the toughest choice of his professional career so far: to carry on, rebuilding from a much lower point of negotiation, or walk away. It is doubtful he will quit. He loves the game too much but it was painfully obvious last night the game does not always love him.
He deserved to lose because he lost his shape in the exchanges and, although he was rocking Garcia almost at will with heavy shots in the first two rounds, cutting him up around the eye, nose and cheek with ripping headshots, with not much of substance coming back at him, he was too easily drawn into a hitting match.
After the shock of the third, the fourth round was a snapshot of his career. There is not an ounce of quit in Khan, which, paradoxically, is half his problem. The bravado he showed under the most intense barrage from the American was not self-conscious machismo, but deep-down courage. He had no idea where he was, except in trouble, and he would have stayed there all night, if allowed.
Even as Garcia was picking apart his disintegrating defence, Khan indulged in a gallant if foolhardy fist-swinging fightback.
He had a call to make after taking a standing eight: run or stand and trade. He tried to do both. He covered up on the retreat as best he could, but he was an easy target. When the final left hook belted his unprotected scalp, his descent to the floor was that of a drunk on a Saturday night, and he got up about as convincingly.
Where to now for Khan? Maybe a rematch with Peterson. It should have been Peterson in the ring against Khan, of course – in the May rematch – but he failed a drugs test and has, for reasons known best to himself and his lawyers, postponed three appeals against the judgment. But that reprise has lost a lot of its lustre.
The two boxers in the ring last night were as clean as a whistle – as were Khan's rattling head shots in the early rounds, as he drew blood form Garcia's right brow and nose. He was making the WBC champion look not only amateurish with his speed and foot movement, but busted up after only six minutes.
Unbeaten in 23 fights, most notably in his last fight against what was left of Erik Morales, Garcia did not wilt under the educated assault, but found it difficult to wok his way into the fight. He tried the body with over and under shots to the ribs – but again strayed low in third.
And then, from nowhere, he hit Khan with that thunderbolt.
Garcia is a good champion but Khan should have beaten him. He should have tucked in and waited for him to slowly absorb the strength of his blows, because his team reckoned Garcia had not prepared well in the Las Vegan heat this week. Instead he went kamikaze, as he has done too often, a product of his thirst for battle and, sadly, the cause of his undoing.
Khan, while he was undergoing routine checks in hospital, did not lack for friends afterwards.
His trainer Freddie Roach admitted Khan let the incendiary remark's of his opponent's father, Angel Garcia, get to him - and that cost him the fight.
"The plan was to counter punch, use the jab," he said, "but Mr Garcia got under his skin, and his heart got in the way. Amir says he will be back. Hopefully Garcia will come to |England and we will fight him over there."
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, was also supportive. "I agree. Amir will be back. He's an exciting fighter, one of the best pound for pound. He likes to entertain and the public like to see fights like that. We will let him rest and see what opportunities are out there for him at 140lbs. Some times his balls are too big for his own good, but that's what makes him the fighter he is. It doesn't mean we have to write off Amir Khan. What we saw was another exciting Amir Khan fight. Who wouldnt want to see him again?"
Khan's father, Shah Khan, said: "He's got a big heart and wanted to get engaged. All he had to do was stay one step away, but that's the way he is. He's okay. No worries, just getting a check up in hospital. The Americans love him, Mandalay Bay love him, HBO love him. He's not one of those guys who hides away. If he could have been here he would have been."
Garcia said later: "I knew I was going to win this fight. I'm the unified champion at 140lbs. I needed a great fighter in front of me to show how good I am. Now everyone knows. I am a killer. I will fight anyone, anywhere, any time.
"I hit him with the same shots I hit Morales with – except he took them, which shows what a great fighter he is. Khan couldn't take them."
And that was the unvarnished truth.