Two instincts burn most deeply in every boxer’s soul: a will to win and self-preservation. At Madison Square Garden on Saturday night they collided painfully for Amir Khan, and he bowed reluctantly to the latter.

Quit is the dirtiest word in the business. Did Khan quit when he turned away from a low blow by Terence Crawford 47 seconds into the sixth round of their world welterweight title fight and motion to his trainer, Virgil Hunter, that he had had enough?

Amir Khan denies ‘quit’ claim and says Terence Crawford won with low blow Read more

Technically, yes. But it is more complicated than that. Nothing is as it seems in boxing.

What hurt Khan almost as much as the pain coursing through his stomach and weary legs was to admit to himself that preserving his health and avoiding a proper beating in a one-sided fight would come at the cost of losing a chunk of his pride. And he had to do it in public.

“I want to apologise to everybody,” he said in the ring on BT Sport. For what, we wondered? He is 32 and plainly not the fighter he was in winning Olympic silver as a teenager and world titles as a professional over 10 years of non-stop commitment to his dangerous sport. He was always the bravest of fighters. Surely he would be given some slack? Some. But not by everybody. From day one, Khan has had to contend with – try to please, even – those brave punters waiting in the dark beyond the ropes for him to fail. Too many of them never wanted him as their champion.

He spoke eloquently beforehand about trying to please everybody, from the Islamophobic mob to those more understanding of difference. It was an impossible task.

Now he was apologising to all of them, because in his heart he had let himself down – and even his enemies. Yet he hadn’t. He had given as much as was left in the tank – and the evidence of nearly every second of the bout revealed that was very little.

This was a mismatch from the knockdown in round one to the surrender in round six. He was never in the fight.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Amir Khan is knocked down by Terence Crawford. The boxer was forced to stop after a low blow 47 seconds into the sixth round. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters

The Bolton man’s failing body did not belong to his head once Crawford put his stamp on the bout with two crunching head shots inside the first three minutes. From that point on, Khan’s once reliable legs drove him into danger but were unable to carry him to safety. He was alarmingly desperate in his clumsy stumbles. Crawford, a superb counterpuncher and a fine champion, had only to wait and execute.

Khan was fighting on adrenalin and old habits, mostly bad ones. Crawford, switching from southpaw to orthodox and back, used Khan’s head for range-finding. His punching had been laser precise all night but then at the end … a long left strayed low, on to the outer edge of Khan’s protective box near the top of his right thigh.

Khan shook in distress, limping away towards his corner, grimacing. He looked down at Hunter. The fighter did not bother with the five minutes given to a fighter thus struck. Nor did the trainer. Khan judged the pain would not diminish. It went into his stomach and his legs, he said. His mechanics were gone. So, effectively, was his spirit and his career.

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Afterwards, all the principals ran for cover. Hunter nuanced his response, perhaps to avoid responsibility for the decision. “It looked like he was hit in the testicles and it took the life out of him,” he said. “I have to take his word for it. I don’t think he was looking for a way out of the fight. He took a bad shot. A bad low blow can really incapacitate a person. I have to take his word for it.”

Twice he insisted: “I have to take his word for it.” So, like, not my fault, right?

As for the winner, he maintained, ludicrously, “It wasn’t low.” It was. Disgracefully so. That was self-preservation of another kind, Crawford protecting the integrity of his win.

Nobody wanted Khan to go out like that – not his trainer, his opponent or, least of all, the bloodthirsty fans who had paid to see him knocked out. And that is the unvarnished truth.