Amir Khan retained his WBA light-welterweight title with a controversial points decision over previously undefeated European champion Paul McCloskey in Manchester's MEN Arena on Sunday morning, Manila Time.
In the fight telecast over ABC 5, An accidental clash of heads in the sixth round resulted in a cut above McCloskey's left eye which began dripping blood and after consulting with the ring doctor referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight provoking McCloskey?s manager and Matchroom Sports owner Barry Hearn to condemn the stoppage ?a disgrace? even as he vowed to file a protest with the British Boxing Board of Control.
Hearn told BBC Sport "It is a shameful decision, we will make a complaint and we want a re-match. I have been in the game a long time and I am absolutely astonished, I cannot believe that fight was stopped."
It wasn?t a pretty fight although all three judges had Khan scoring a 60-54 shutout. With the win Khan improved to 25-1 with 17 knockouts while McCloskey suffered his first defeat against 22 wins and 12 knockouts.
BBC Sport noted that Khan?s stunning points win over hard-hitting Argentine Marcos Maidana was a ?Fight of the Year? contender but the McCloskey title defense was ?a scrappy, stop-start affair that never came close to the same sensational standard that will be quickly forgotten.?
The fight was a letdown and appeared to justify the lack of interest by broadcasters with the original pay-per-view telecast being dropped by Sky Box Office and picked up by the much less established Prime which resulted in Khan losing an estimated $1.6 million in revenues.
Khan is hoping to take on American Timothy Bradley, the WBC/WBO champion in a unification bout in July but with what most people regard as a disappointing performance Khan?s trainer Freddie Roach may want to delay that fight until later in the year.
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