(Photo: Naoki Fakuda) By William Mackay: At some point a fighter has to face the reality that they’re just not cut out for the sport of boxing. For some fighters it happens late in their career after many years of success, while with others it happens early when they’re exposed as not having correct tools for success. Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) may need to look at finding another line of work after being knocked out by WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia in the 4th round tonight.

This was supposed to be a winnable fight for Khan, because Garcia isn’t considered to be the best fighter at 140 by a lot of boxing fans. Khan failed miserably against Garcia, getting knocked down three times in the fight before it was finally halted in the 4th.

Khan did a great job for exactly two rounds, landing jabs, and his lightning fast power punches nearly at will. Khan was totally in control of the fight due to his speed and reach advantage.

Garcia suffered a bad cut in the 2nd round from a clash of heads that left a nasty cut above his right eye. Khan seemed to target the cut with his shots immediately after spotting the blood.

In the third round, Khan’s night fell apart when he was hit with one of Garcia’s hard left hooks to the head and knocked down. Garcia had been trying to land that shot, but hadn’t been able to connect with it with any real consistency. The 3rd round was the first time Garcia really landed it cleanly, and it nearly folded Khan in two. Khan got up off of the deck after what appeared to be a long count from the referee Kenny Bayless. I counted 15 seconds, but Bayless could have counted to 60 seconds and Khan still likely wouldn’t have made it out of the round. He was hurt. Khan could barely stand, but somehow was able to make it out of the round without going down again.

Trainer Freddie Roach worked feverishly between rounds to try and clear Khan’s head of the cobwebs left from Garcia’s big hooks, but there just wasn’t enough time for Khan to fully recover in the small amount of time. When Khan came out in the 4th, it was painfully obvious that he was still too hurt to put up much of a fight. It was like watching Khan trying to survive the 10th round in his bout against Marcos Maidana, but this time against Garcia he was facing fighter that wasn’t gassed out like Maidana and who had pinpoint accuracy. There also wasn’t a referee that got in Garcia’s way by pulling him off of Khan the way that the referee did in the Maidana fight. Khan was a sitting duck against Garcia, and there wasn’t anyone or anything to save him. Garcia landed huge shots against the defenseless Khan, knocking him down twice more before Bayless stopped the bout.

Knowing Khan he’ll likely make the excuse that he knocked out because he was overconfident and didn’t take Garcia seriously. But hopefully Khan can see the real picture that he just doesn’t have the chin for the game and would be better off retiring. Like a lot of athletes in denial, Khan will probably look for another trainer that he feels can magically fix his broken game and broken dreams, but I don’t see anyone that can do that.

It would take a miracle at this point for Khan to ever amount to anything in the sport. The only way I can see Khan succeeding is if his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions put Khan back on a soft diet of 2nd tier opposition and keep him there for a year or so until one of the light welterweight titles go vacant, and Khan could face a weak contender with an inflated ranking for the strap.