Amir Khan’s Saturday night loss to Terence Crawford was perhaps the worst of his career, at least in terms of immediate public perception. He’s been knocked out before, sure, but this one was just plain weird, and a lot of people feel he just didn’t want to continue in the fight.
Khan answered a few questions at the post-fight press conference, discussing the controversial low blow ending, why he didn’t take the five minutes, and his future in boxing at age 32.
On what happened at the end
“Virgil — I was in the corner and obviously I walked over to him and he said, ‘How you feel?’ And obviously, I could feel it in my stomach. I was caught with big shots in the fight, obviously, I just didn’t recover from that last shot. I’m not taking anything away from Crawford, he put on a great fight. It was a pleasure to be in the ring with him. He’s a great fighter. I give him a lot more credit now that I’ve spent time in the ring with him. He’s a very good fighter.”
On if he suffered an arm injury
“I had a few little problems from camp, but it was fine. The adrenaline kept me going. I had a few little problems with the right arm. It happened in camp, but it’s fine. I was OK to continue.”
On why he didn’t take the five minutes to recover
“I’d have to watch the video and look back at it, to be honest with you. I’m not one of them guys to quit. I’d rather be knocked out. I need to go back and see that. Look, if I quit, I would not be here sat in front of you guys. That’s why I came here, I wanted to face you guys and face Terence as well. Good luck to Terence and obviously I have to move on to different things myself. I tried. That’s all I can say.”
On whether he’ll fight again
“I tried. I wanted to fight the best here. I tried to win as many titles as I can. I wanna spend some time with my family and see where I go from there, really. I’m 32. I still feel like I’ve got a lot left in me. I was up against a very good fighter today who was very skillful. I’m just gonna sit down with my family and go from there. I’ve got a lot left in me. I still love the sport. I’ve always loved it.”