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MANCHESTER: Amir Khan rejected Paul McCloskey's calls for a rematch after their world light-welterweight title fight was controversially stopped in the sixth round on Saturday.
The English fighter retained his World Boxing Association (WBA) title by a technical unanimous points decision after the referee halted the fight due to a cut on McCloskey's forehead that stretched to his left eyebrow.
Referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight on the advice of a ringside doctor and all three judges scored the bout 60-54 in the 24-year-old Englishman's favour.
At the time of the stoppage, Khan was well in control of his fourth title defence with his fast flurries of punches.
But many of the 18,000 crowd at the MEN Arena jeered the decision and McCloskey's corner were livid. The Northern Irishman's promoter Eddie Hearn has asked the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) to launch an investigation into the stoppage decision.
Khan, however, has no interest in a rematch and instead is set to fight American Tim Bradley, the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) champion in a world title unification fight in the United States on July 23.
“I've got bigger things to do than a rematch,” Khan told a press conference on Saturday night.
“I want to unify the decision and fight Bradley.
“He didn't win one round and with another two rounds I would have knocked him out. He was lucky the fight was stopped because otherwise he would have got knocked out.
“I would only have torn that cut and made it bigger. He can't be bitter, this is sport and the job is done.”
The thousands who had made the trip across the Irish Sea would disagree with Khan.
McCloskey, the European champion, was furious with the decision that ended his unbeaten record. The 31-year-old appeared at a heated press conference with seven stitches to the wound but insisted he should have been allowed to continue.
“I didn't know why the doctor was in the ring in the first place, he wasn't even asked to come in, and I don't know why it was stopped,” McCloskey said.
“I thought it was bad but it could have carried on. It has been a lifetime of work, for that.
“Amir is a good boxer, but he's not that good. Amir was tired. He had problems making the weight and I get stronger as a fight goes on.”
Hearn wants the BBBofC to ask the WBA governing body for an immediate rematch against Khan, who is instead planning to face Bradley.
“Paul definitely didn't quit the fight and I've spoken to Robert Smith at the British Boxing Board of Control and they will launch an investigation into the fight,” Hearn told AFP.
“I hope he then asks the WBA for an immediate rematch.”
But there have already been talks, before Khan stepped in the ring to face his British rival, with Bradley's team.
Oscar De La Hoya, boss of Khan's American promotional company Golden Boy tried to defuse the row over the stoppage and is looking towards Bradley - not McCloskey - as the 2004 Olympic silver medalist's next opponent.
“Amir is not a doctor, neither am I, so I don't know about the cut, that was the doctor's job, but I've seen fights stopped with cuts half the size,” De La Hoya told the press conference.
“Now we are going to unify the titles with Amir in the States. [American TV network] HBO wants the Bradley fight and that's what we are going to do.”
