Khan: “I didn’t quit” against Crawford

By Chris Williams

Boxingnews24.com

Amir Khan (33-5, 20 KOs) was repeatedly asked by the media if he’d quit in his fight against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Crawford surprisingly didn’t realize that he had hit Khan with a low blow in the sixth. Crawford STILL didn’t realize that he had fouled Khan until he was told by media at the post-fight news conference.

Terence thought he’d hit Khan, 32, with a shot to the leg. Crawford tried to get Khan to admit that he’d hit him in the leg and not with a low blow. Instead of losing his cool, Khan let Crawford know that he’d fouled him. It was surprising that Crawford was under the mistaken belief that he’d hit him in the thigh.

Khan’s trainer Virgil Hunter pulled him out of the fight after he’d been hurt with a low blow by Crawford in the sixth round.

The referee was going to give Khan five minutes to recover from the low shot, but Hunter had the fight stopped after briefly talking to Khan to get an assessment of how he was feeling, and whether or not he could continue. It was Hunter’s call to have the fight stopped.

WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) scored a sixth round TKO over former unified super lightweight world champion Amir Khan (33-5, 20 KOs) on Saturday night before a crowd of 14,091 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Khan: “I went over to my corner and Virgil [Hunter] said, ‘How do you feel?’ Obviously, I felt it in my stomach. I was caught with a good shot in the fight. I didn’t recover from that first shot. He’s a very good fighter. I would never quit. I’d rather be knocked out.”

Crawford: “You quit. Tell the truth.”

Khan: “No, I didn’t quit. I was hit with a low shot.”

Crawford: ‘You quit with a shot on the leg.”

Khan: “On the leg? It was on the balls. I haven’t seen the video, but it was a low blow.”

Crawford: “It was low. It was low. It was probably low.”

Khan: “If you guys think I quit, no problem. I never quit in a fight, 100%. He’s a good fighter. He beat me tonight. I didn’t quit. I don’t quit. I had a few little problems in the camp. It was a problem with the right arm. The adrenaline kept it going. It happened in camp, but it was fine.”

Crawford: “Everybody knows I want the Spence fight. That’s the fight that everybody wants. That’s the fight that I want to prove that I’m the best welterweight in the division. I don’t know what’s going on. I can only fight what’s put in front of me, and that’s what I’m going to continue to do and that’s what my main focus is. That’s where we’re at.”

Khan: “I tried, that’s all I can say. I’m 32. I still feel like I’ve got a lot left in me. I was up against a very good fighter tonight. He was very skillful. I got a lot left in me.”

Crawford: “We know Amir is a good boxer. We didn’t want to get behind on the scorecards and play catch up.”