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Amir Khan realizes that he took a lot of punishment on Saturday, when he suffered a stoppage loss at the hands of his career rival, Kell Brook.
The two former world champions met in the ring at Manchester Arena, with Brook dominating the majority of the fight with his power shots.
The end finally came in the sixth round, when the referee jumped in as Brook was punishing Khan against the ropes.
Khan, 35-years-old, was returning after a long layoff – with his last bout taking place in July of 2019, when he stopped an overmatched Billy Dib.
“[Brook] fought out of his skin. I wasn’t ready for that. Nor for his strength. No excuses from me. He was much the better man. We can go for coffee whenever he wants,” Khan said.
The Bolton boxer, who at age 17 won a silver medal in the Olympics, is now facing the end of the road.
Khan admits that he took too much punishment in the bout. Khan has suffered some tough knockout losses in the past – to Briedis Prescott, Danny Garcia and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The speed was still there, but he wasn’t as quick as he had been in the past – which Brook exposed with the timing of his big shots.
“I’ve been in dramatic fights both sides of the Atlantic against great fighters. But you can’t go on and on being hit and hurt like I was here. It can make you fall out of love with boxing. It can be bad for your future life,” Khan said.
“I just can’t get into the flow any longer. Not against someone as good as Kell.”