Amir Khan was booed by the fans at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night after declining to continue following a low blow by Bud Crawford in the sixth round of their WBO welterweight title.
Khan was struck in the groin by a massive left uppercut from Crawford in the first minute of the sixth round. He appeared to be in great discomfort and decided he could not continue. His trainer Virgil Hunter later said it was Khan’s decision not to continue, not the corner’s.
Virgil Hunter: “It’s obvious he was in a lot of pain. Sometimes you can continue and sometimes you can’t continue, it depends on how hard you were hit in the testicles. I asked him if he could continue and he said, ‘No.’"
— Brian Campbell (@BCampbellCBS) April 21, 2019
The fans in attendance were upset to see Khan call off the fight halfway through the expected 12 rounds for the title fight and let him know it with boos during his postfight interview.
Crawford was credited with a TKO win to improve to 35-0.
So why did Khan and his corner decide to stop the fight? Maybe they didn’t like the way things were going and were hoping for a disqualification for Crawford if the low blow were ruled to be intentional. Instead, it was ruled accidental, and Crawford was given a TKO win.
Hunter also said after the fight that Khan was fighting at less than full strength due to bone spurs in his elbow.
Amir Khan's trainer, Virgil Hunter, tells @SInow that Khan was dealing with bone spurs in his elbow. "He wasn't fighting at 100%," Hunter said.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) April 21, 2019
Khan may now want to try and revisit talks to fight Kell Brook next.
