By Sean McDaniel: Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) only has himself to blame for losing to WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KO’s) by a 4th round TKO last night in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was a fight that Khan would have won had he followed the advice of his trainer Freddie Roach to stick and move, and not stand in front of Garcia. Khan for whatever reason chose to slug with Garcia by standing directly in front of him looking to trade.

It was a mistake that ultimately cost Khan the fight when he was knocked down three times before the fight was stopped in the 4th after Khan had been knocked down. Roach had given Khan clear instructions to clinch as Khan was going into the 4th round after having been knocked down and badly hurt at the end of the 3rd. However, Khan failed to follow Roach’s advice and came out looking to slug with Garcia in the 4th round.

It didn’t take long for Garcia to knock Khan down with a right hand after stunning him with a hard right to the head. Khan got up and continued to punch with Garcia, but was put down for the second time in the round with a left to the head followed by a right finishing shot as Khan was falling down.

It’s got to be really disappointing for Roach, because he laid out the plan for Khan to beat Garcia by having him last quick shots and then move away, but Khan seemed to choose to ignore the plan for personal reasons. All I can think of is that Khan didn’t respect Garcia enough as a fighter to run from him like Khan had done against Marcos Maidana and Lamont Peterson. To be sure, Khan might still have lost even if he had followed Roach’s plan, because Garcia was deadly accurate with his shots and really putting pressure on him. However, Khan would have lasted a lot longer if he had listened to Roach, and he could have won the fight.

Going forward, Khan is going to have to change his fighting style entirely from top to bottom for him to turn his career around. He’s going to have to become a fighter that strictly jabs, runs and holds. He can’t afford to throw power punches unless he’s absolutely 100% sure that he won’t get hit in return. Khan has to forget about being exciting from this moment on, and just focus on being boring so that that he can avoid getting knocked out in anymore of his fights. Khan will have to become the Wladimir Klitschko of the light welterweight division. And, if I were Khan, I’d forget entirely about moving up to the welterweight division. He doesn’t have the chin for that division, and would likely lose to guys even if he runs and throws nothing but jabs. All it will take is one hard shot from a decent welterweight and Khan will be rolling around on the canvas.

My main issue with Roach was that he wasn’t being forceful enough when giving instructions to Khan in between the 3rd and 4th rounds. Roach needed to shout and Khan and repeat himself many times when he told him to hold on to Garcia, because Roach seemed too calm. He should have been showing some emotion to get Khan to pay attention to what he was saying. What good is having a trainer like Roach if Khan isn’t going to follow his advice? Khan might as well be trained by anyone of the street with zero experience if he’s just going to fight the way he wants to and not follow advice.