Amir Khan knocked out in Vegas

Amir Khan suffered a shock defeat in Las Vegas after being stopped by Danny Garcia in four rounds.

Khan looked in control until a left-hook floored him in round three and he never fully recovered, leading the way for Garcia to bludgeon him to the canvas twice more in the following round before referee Kenny Bayless ended the contest.

This defeat puts a massive dent in Khan’s dreams of pound for pound glory and a potential meeting with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It had all looked so different in the first two rounds with the Bolton fighter seemingly in complete control. Khan used his fast hands to great advantage as he rattled in combinations that Garcia simply could not answer.

Right from the first bell Khan landed stiff ‘one two’ combinations and worked behind an accuarate jab. Garcia adopts the nickname ‘swift’ but looked anything but as he plodded forward and was picked off by Khan’s attacks.

It didn’t get any better for the home fighter in round two as a clash of heads left him with a cut above his right eye. Khan wasted little time in targeting the wound and continued to land scoring punches.

The fight turned dramatically on its head with 30 seconds remaining in round three. It was in this session that Garcia had predicted he would end the fight, and he so nearly did just that. Out of the blue he landed a crushing left hook to send Khan crashing to the canvas.

Despite the benefit of a somewhat delayed count from referee Bayless, Khan rose on unsteady legs and looked badly off balance. If it had not been a world title fight he could well have been stopped there and then. But he just about avoided another barrage from Garcia to hear the bell for the end of the round.

Slumped on his stool Khan insisted that he was okay but he needed much longer to recover than the minute he was afforded. As soon as the fourth round started it was clear his legs were still betraying him and he could not avoid Garcia’s punches.

Khan was battered around the ring much like the tenth round of his epic fight with Marcos Maidana, but this time there was no escape. Garcia seized his chance and was prepared to walk through punches to land powerful hooks of his own. Twice more Khan was knocked down and the second, from a glancing shot high to the temple, left Bayless with no option but to step in.