Amir Khan unable to continue against Terence Crawford after punch to groin

A bizarre end to a cracking fight

Amir Khan has lost his fight at Madison Square Garden to Terence Crawford after being unable to continue following a punch to the groin. It was a disappointing night for the British fighter, who recovered from an early scare to grow to prominence in the bout. He was downed early in the first round after being rocked by a strong right hook from Crawford, and looked dazed for the remainder of the round. The second saw the fighters exchange flurries of punches, with Khan enjoying the better of it as he found gaps in Crawford's defence and exploited them with his signature speed. After a third round which saw Crawford regain the upper hand, both fighters absolutely tore into each other in the fourth, with punches exchanged from almost the first second until the last, and with Khan landing a powerful punch before the bell. This appeared to spur on Crawford who came out strong and with intent in the fifth, leaving Khan in damage with a number of head shots and vicious body blows. Once again Khan showed he was looking to play the long game though, as he held out and finished the round the stronger. The intensity didn't wane in the sixth, at least not until a Crawford low blow left Khan wincing. It looked initially innocuous, with Khan taking a moment to get some air in the corner. However it quickly became clear that Khan was unable to continue, much to the annoyance of the booing Madison Square Garden crowd, many of whom were questioning why he didn't take the five minutes available to him to recover.