Amir Khan Agrees: Stoppage of Groves Was Premature

By Edward Chaykovsky

WBC silver welterweight champion Amir Khan agrees with the popular opinion that referee Howard Foster stepped in too early to wave off the contest between Carl Froch and George Groves last November.

Froch was down in the first and behind on the cards when he got Groves in trouble during the ninth, and Foster stepped while Froch was attempting to finish. The rematch is now set, for this Saturday night. And 80,000 fans are heading down to London's Wembley to watch them trade for a second time.

"The ref shouldn't have stopped it that early because it's boxing - you're going to get hit with a good shot! You're going to get wobbled a few times but that doesn't mean the ref has to jump in and stop the fight, at least let the fight go on because even the crowd started booing and I think the ref knew he made a mistake," said Khan to Sky Sports.

"These are the championship rounds, nine, 10, 11, 12. Four rounds to go until the fight is over and Groves is up and the ref jumps in and stops the fight? This is boxing, you have to let it go until the end. Us fighters train until we get knocked out. We know how to take these shots. Sometimes we might get hit with a shot and it might be a decoy to come back and knock your opponent out, because he thinks you're hurt and his hands go down and he goes wild, you end up putting him down.

"It's happened in the past. It's happened numerous times where guys have been put down hurt and you think they're finished and they've come back and knocked the other guy out. You need a referee there who's going to treat it like an even fight."