By Paul Strauss: Philly’s Danny “Swift” Garcia 24-0-0 (15) stayed unbeaten and beat the odds makers by dethroning Amir “King” Khan 26-3-0 (18) at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas with a 4th Round TKO. Referee Kenny Bayless called a halt to the action at 2:28 of the round.
Danny came into tonight’s fight as a sizable 6 to 1 underdog. Many thought “King” Khan would be too big, too fast, and hit too hard for the Philly tough guy. Danny’s father spiced things up with a lot of nonsense trash talk, but Danny stayed calm and prepared for what was to come.
He knew Khan would come out fast, and try to get him out of there. His plan was to be ready, slip shots and counter and see what Khan had to offer. Through the first two rounds, it looked as though Khan had plenty to offer. Just as many of the experts thought, Khan seemed to be too fast and too long for Danny.
Moments into the first round, Khan was already tagging Danny with right hands. It didn’t bode well for the underdog. Danny stayed calm though, and tried to time Khan’s punches and counter with his own, but he was noticeably lagging in the speed department, which was needed to catch Khan with counters. Khan further complicated things for Danny with good feints. Danny’s best moments were low blows that brought several warnings from Bayless. One in particular was a “one ringy dingy” that had Khan yodeling for a second or two. Danny ended up with a cut over the right eyelid in the second round, and it looked like one of those cuts that could prove to be a real problem.
Late in the third round, there was a particularly fierce exchange. As usual, Khan was firing off a multi punch combination, finishing with a left and right. Danny managed to roll with the punches and crank up his own counter left hook. There was a lot of torque on the punch, because Danny was bending down and to his right as the looping shot crashed into the area behind Khan’s right ear. The impact seemed to encompass the whole area from the back of Khan’s jaw to the area of the skull and brain where the autonomic nervous system is controlled. As a result, Khan’s nervous system derailed and his legs became noodle like.
He appeared to be in such bad shape that veteran HBO announcer Jim Lampley declared the fight was over! Fortunately for Khan, his rescue came in the form of a bell sounding to end of the round. The King was wounded and he wobbled over to his corner, still unable to regain his equilibrium. Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach tried to calm him, and remind him that he needed to hold on (clinch) until he could regain his senses. Khan nodded that he understood.
Round four started with a chase. Danny was hot on Khan’s tail, firing off hard shots. Several clubbing rights got through, and even if they weren’t landing cleaning, they were banging hard into Khan’s guard, which in turn bounced off Khan’s head. It was obvious Khan still didn’t have control over his legs. But, his head was clear, and he fought back with a true fighter’s instinct and champion’s heart. Once again he was making a fight of it. His speed showed itself again, and he tagged Danny with some pretty good shots, some of which were good uppercuts.
Khan still wasn’t steady though, and he failed to get out of the way of Garcia’s counters. Then there was another booming Garcia left hook. Down went Khan again. The process was repeated again with a shot off the temple area of the right side of Khan’s head and a glancing right thrown in for good measure. Khan was down for the third time in the fight. He beat the count and could be seen through the view of a camera placed on Referee Bayless. The camera was intended to give viewers a look at things from the referee’s perspective. Khan seemed lucid, and could be seen to be saying he could continue, but Bayless apparently saw more than the camera, because he decided Khan was in no condition to continue and he stopped the fight.
In the post-fight interview with boxing analyst Max Kellerman, Khan made no excuses. He felt he could have continued, but he wasn’t blaming Kenny Bayless for a quick stoppage. He respects Bayless’ judgment. As far as the fight was concerned, he said he was carrying out the fight plan, but just got caught. “That’s boxing”, he explained. Danny was gracious in victory and emphasized the pre-fight nonsense initiated by his camp (primarily his idiot father) was just hype to promote the fight, and that he respected Amir Khan and thinks Khan is a great fighter. He complimented Khan’s courage and big heart for fighting on when hurt.
So, the night was Danny’s, and if the “King” isn’t dead, he’s definitely suffering. Khan had big plans, which included a possible fight with Timothy Bradley, or maybe even Floyd Mayweather, Jr. His plans hinged on a victory Saturday night. Khan has now suffered defeat three times in his career, two of which resulted in him being stopped. Will he regain royal status? Or, does this major setback signify a permanent end to his elevated status? Don’t bet against him. He came back in a big way from the 9-6-2008 first round kayo at the hands of Breidis Prescott, and there’s no reason to believe Khan won’t come back again.
In tonight’s loss, he didn’t suffer a bad beating. His chin wasn’t exposed. Rather, it was just one of those unusual shots that lands in an odd spot, one which temporarily derails the synapses. When that happens, even though the fighter is conscious, instructions from his brain to his legs just don’t get through. Chances are Khan will come back and still beat most of the guys out there.