FORMER world champion Barry McGuigan insisted Amir Khanโs courage cannot be questioned following his controversial defeat to Terence Crawford.
Crawford accused Khan of quitting afterย their WBO welterweight title fight at New Yorkโs Madison Square Garden had been stopped in the sixth round.
Khan, 32,ย had been knocked down in the opening round and was taking regular punishment before Crawford landed a sickening low blow and his corner indicated he could no longer continue 47 seconds into the round.
But McGuigan, 58, who won the world featherweight title in 1985, has leapt to the Bolton fighterโs defence.
โItโs a very dangerous thing to do to call somebody a quitter,โ McGuigan told BBC 5 Liveโs Sportsweek. โYou look at Khanโs career and the fights heโs been in and the one thing he always had was immense courage, determination and getting up off the floor.
โYou think of the Breidis Prescott fight, the Canelo (Alvarez) fight, the Danny Garcia fight โ thereโs no quit in him.
โI just think he took the intelligent option and got out because he was down, I donโt think he won a round, he was down from a right hand in the first round.โ
Peeing blood. The shot was low. The fight was just getting interesting. Well done team Terrance. I never quit, I rather get knocked out cold then quit. Good night. Thank you New York. pic.twitter.com/StsfiU3s4k
โ Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) April 21, 2019
Khan insisted in his post-fight press conference that he would never quit and tweeted on Sunday morning that he had been urinating blood.
He tweeted: โPeeing blood. The shot was low. The fight was just getting interesting. Well done team Terrance. I never quit, I rather get knocked out cold then quit. Good night. Thank you New York.โ
He had also appeared to struggle with an injury to his right arm, but instead of taking the full five minutes he would have been allowed to recover from the low blow, was withdrawn by his trainer Virgil Hunter having used only a fraction of it, ensuring his defeat via stoppage.
โHe was losing the fight comprehensively and there is no question about it, Terence Crawford was going to close the show, no doubt about that,โ McGuigan said.
When asked why he thought Khan did not take the full five minutes to recover, the Irishman said: โWell he could have.
โI donโt think that low blow was in the groin, I think it hit him on the top of the leg, not in the testicles.
โThatโs when you get the sick tummy and lasting pain. I donโt think it hit him in the testicles, I think it hit him on the side, the pictures all show it.
โSo itโs questionable whether the pain was going up into his stomach, but you cannot question his courage, thatโs the bottom line.โ
I have never quit a fight in my life, my understanding was that virgil asked me if the low blow still hurt and I said yes. My intention was to wait it out and continue like always. https://t.co/1chAhVFKDW
โ Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) April 21, 2019
McGuigan added:ย โNone of us will ever really know. The sensible option is he saves himself for another day.
โIf heโd gone on and been humiliatingly knocked out and dropped several times and then flattened, then people would have been calling for him to stop.
โNow I suppose with Virgil Hunterโs decision heโs now got the chance of resurrecting the possibility of a fight with Kell Brook somewhere down the line.โ
Former heavyweight world champion Frank Bruno said it was a โsadโ ending but believes Khan will continue to fight on.
The sky is the limit. Congrats to the WBO Welterweight World Champion Terence Crawford, who defeated Amir Khan via 6th-round TKO at the MSG in NY #ESPNPPV
Photo by Mikey Williams / Top Rank pic.twitter.com/YqMnEeD6Vl
โ WBO (@WorldBoxingOrg) April 21, 2019
โIt was very sad, to get punched on the โcentre wicketโ like that,โ Bruno told Sportsweek.
โHe could have taken the five minutes and recovered, that would have been better, but heโs got caught with a โcentre-wicketโ punch and itโs a sad way to end.
โHeโll go for the Kell Brook fight. Heโs had a good career and done very well.
โHeโs had his ups and downs and heโs in the final furlong, but I think heโll go for the Kell Brook fight.โ