By Scott Gilfoid: Making the cardinal mistake of trying to punch with a puncher, formerly unbeaten lightweight Amir Khan (18-0, 14 KOs) was knocked down twice and stopped by Colombian Breidis Prescott (20-0, 18 KOs) in the 1st round on Saturday night. Khan, 21, went right after Prescott, seeming to ignore the latest advice by most boxing experts to stay away from the powerful Prescott, in the 1st round and was almost immediately dropped when the Colombian nailed Khan with a big left hook that stunned Khan, causing both legs to go, and then he was put down with a right and then another left hook to the head.

Khan was on queer street once he hit the canvas. It would have taken a minor miracle for him to have survived the round at this point. He got up, barely, looking as if he had been in a car wreck. Rather than looking at the referee, Khan’s head pivoted around like it was made from rubber and he seemed not to be in the right of mind. After examining Khan for a second, the referee allowed him to continue fighting what seemed like an almost certain knockout fate awaiting him. Prescott, a fighter that few people have heard of before this fight, just had too much power in his left hook for Khan.

His right wasn’t all that much of a threat from what I could see of it, but his left was a dangerous weapon to be sure. Khan came right after Prescott as soon as the action resumed, almost as if the fight were being restarted. Normally a hurt fighter wants to clinch and try to buy time. Not Khan, though, he went after Prescott as if he were the one hurt, and started winging shots with both hands wildly, missing and leaving himself open for Prescott’s vicious left hook.

Maybe if this was one of the unskilled fighters that Khan had been fighting for most of his short boxing career, he might have been able to survive the round. But, not with a big puncher like Prescott, who had a left hook that would decapitate even the best of lightweights. In the case of Khan, a fighter known for having a slightly weak chin, Prescott was bad news for him. It didn’t take a but a couple of seconds for Prescott to put the finishing touches on Khan, connecting once again with another left hook that sent Khan down on the canvas for good. He laid there for a second, badly hurt, before finally getting to his feet after falling once in the process of getting up.

The fight was a major blow for the career of Khan, who now has to go back to the drawing board and try to rebuild himself and fix his mistakes. He previously changed trainers for this fight, taking on Cuban trainer Jorge Rubio, who supposedly fixed Khan’s defensive weakness which were brought to the forefront in his last fight when he was knocked down by Michael Gomez. It appears that Khan needs a lot more time with Rubio. That is, if the Cuban trainer is still going to remain with him.

Obviously, it takes time to fix defensive mistakes like the ones that Khan has been making during his short career, so one would hope that Rubio is allowed to remain with him. Khan needs to take things more slowly not, try to learn some things and not go rushing back into a fight with someone as hard a hitter as Prescott.

Knowing Khan, he probably wants an immediate rematch, but that would be a risky move. He probably suffered a serious concussion on Saturday night and might be more susceptible to experiencing another one should he get back into the ring with Prescott in the next 4-6 months.