Amir Khan gets shock to the system

Amir Khan was given the shock of his boxing life before marking his senior ABA Championships debut with a victory at Preston Guild Hall in England tonight.

The Olympic silver medallist had to clamber off the canvas before beating Manchester’s Craig Watson 21-9 on points to advance to the East Lancashire and Cheshire divisional final.

The 18-year-old’s legs gave way after he was caught by a crashing left hook by Watson in the fourth and final round of his light-welterweight fight.

But after taking a mandatory eight count he rallied to wrap up his victory in front of a roaring capacity crowd.

It was Khan’s first fight at the weight after moving up following his success at lightweight in Athens.

And despite a typically lightning start it ultimately proved to be every bit as hard as anything he experienced in Athens as birthday boy Watson – 22 today - rallied gamely in a frantic final round.

Khan appeared genuinely stunned after falling to the floor, and had to ride out some stormy final moments with blood appearing to seep from his nose.

But depending on other results, the 18-year-old was still expected to contest the regional final later tonight.

Such a dramatic ending did not appear likely in the first round which Khan breezed 8-2 with his trademark quick counter-punching.

He twice sent Watson into the ropes after stalking his opponent around the ring, and the bell appeared to save Watson as Khan unloaded with both hands.

Watson was hardly landing a punch in retaliation at that stage but with Khan appearing to favour a patient approach the underdog kept cool and began visibly gaining in confidence.

In the fourth Watson landed his best punch with a looping left hand, sparking a return assault from Khan which ended abruptly with his delayed reaction fall from the left hand.

But in front of his excited fans Khan saw out the remainder of the contest and there was never any doubt about the computer scoring adjudging the favourite the winner.

Watson said afterwards: “My heart was in my mouth when he went down and I was praying he would stay there.

“But he ended up getting up and there was nothing I could do about it in the end. I hope I gave him an introduction to the light-welterweight division. I got the chance and I showed why I deserved it.”