I have to be honest, the least convincing performance from Khan to date.
He won by stoppage in the 7th round, but I have my doubts. His opponent was tough and awkward and from round 3 onwards Khan was getting frustrated, and tired. He kept trying to switch to Southpaw and other tactics but Kristjansen was cool and persistent. The fight turned when Khan did get a good shot in the 7th, Kristjansen dropped to his knees and Khan hit him, twice, hard, whilst he was on the floor. As a fighter I respect, I was very dissapointed with this, it showed desperation and lack of fair play. By the book he should have had a point deducted, but home turf prevailed. Once back on his feet Khan simply chased KJ across the ring, not really scoring any shots but giving the impression that he was overwhelming him. The Ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Kristjansen looked perfectly fine, I think Khan played the game well knowing that the Ref would step in if he made it look like his opponent was in real trouble. He didn't look like it to me, Khan just ran at him and swang, nothing hit clean. However if he was in trouble it may be due to the two big shots he got hit with when he was on his knees.
I have seen a big chink in the armour, and lost some respect for young Amir. |