Terence Crawford vs Amir Khan

By Daniel Gonzalez

New York, NY – Although the much anticipated welterweight clash between Terrance “Bud” Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) and Amir “King” Khan (33-5, 20 KOs) ended in a somewhat controversial and anticlimactic manner, there is no question that the number one pound for pound fighter in the world once again displayed his ability to dominate opponents in the ring. It was unfortunate for the 14,091 in attendance at Madison Square Garden and those who invested $69.99 to purchase the ESPN pay-per-view event that Crawford’s attempted left hook to the body accidentally landed on Khan’s hip/groin area, but it may have been the best thing that happened for Amir Khan. A brutal knockout was imminent, and it was only a matter of time before Crawford landed the devastating shot he was looking for.

After the low blow, Referee David Fields gave the former Olympic silver medalist and former unified super lightweight champion five minutes to recover, but Amir Khan squirmed in his corner as trainer Virgil Hunter repeatedly asked him if he wanted him to stop the fight. It appeared to me that Khan said the words, “I’m Done,” to Hunter indicating that he did not want to continue. Hunter communicated that to Fields and the fight was stopped at 0:47 of the 6th round.

The New York crowd booed Khan for electing not to conintnue, and many analysts are convinced that he quit, but Khan offered an apology to the fans. “First of all I want to apologies to all of the fans. The fight was just getting interesting. Terence was great, I am not taking anything away from him. I have realized why he was one of the best pound for pound..I could feel it in my stomach and legs. I said ‘I can’t move’. There was no point taking five minutes out, I could not continue,” said Khan in his post-fight interview.

Khan, who has always tested himself and gotten in the ring with the best of the best, once again tried to achieve greatness by taking this very dangerous fight with Crawford. He could have faced Kell Brook in a very lucrative fight across the pond in England, but instead he elected to take on who many believe is the best fighter on the planet. He also showed his heart when he managed to pick himself up off the canvas after Crawford landed a perfectly timed straight right in the first round. His election not to continue, although disappointing, was actually a wise choice for Khan. After seeing boxers being hurt in the ring lately, it was clear to me that he did not have a chance in this fight and was going to take a lot of punishment from Crawford. He was already battered and if the low blow was going to slow down, he would have been in extremely dangerous territory in the ring with the merciless Crawford.

“I could tell I was breaking him down,” Crawford said inside the ring. “It was just a matter of time. I just took my time. I was disappointed the corner stopped the fight in that manner, but Virgil [Hunter] is a great coach, and he was looking out for his fighter.”

Crawford understood that he had to put on a great show after both Vasyl Lomachenko and Errol Spence did what they had to do in their recent matchups against Anthony Crollla and Mikey Garcia. When asked he did not shy away from what all boxing fans and purists wanted to hear after the fight. Crawford clearly stated, “The fight I want next is Errol Spence…whenever he is ready he can come and get it.”

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum also appeared open to the potential unification superfight between his WBO title holder Crawford and the IBF Champion Spence. However, when asked about the politics that could prevent that potential bout, he was quick to place blame on promoter/advisor Al Haymon. The Haymon and Arum feud is often blamed for the Manny Paquiao and Floyd Mayweather not being made during the fighters’ respective primes. Hopefully this same feud will not prevent this prime unification bout between Crawford and Spence from taking place sooner rather than later.