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There has been a bit of a divide on the forum with regards to the Khan-Garcia fight. Some believe Garcia landed a lucky punch and Khan was boxing his head off and some believe that Garcia was starting to get Khans timing down and the KO was coming. I would like some opinions and sensible comments, bias fan boys need not post.
When I first watched the fight I believed that Khan was boxing his head off, I thought he was on his way to a UD, maybe even a stoppage on cuts. Khan won the first 2rds without a doubt.
After reading the forum over the last couple of days I decided to watch the fight again, a little more carefully this time. After the second watch I'm now in the camp that believes Garcia was starting to figure Khan out. If you watch the fight minute by minute Garcia was constantly improving, in the first minute of the first round Khan couldnt miss Garcia with his right hand, towards the end of the round Garcia had started to adjust to the speed the right hand wasn't hitting as much. Manny Steward even commented at the end of the first and part way through the second that Garcia had figured out Khan's right hand.
If you decide to watch the fight again pay attention to how many times Garcia was starting to catch Khan with his looping counters, he didn't catch him clean until that third round, Garcia wasn't/isn't the most accurate of fighters but he knew what he needed to do. He through those strong counters over and over, at the end of the exchanges it was a Garcia counter that was knocking Khan off balance. I don't think they were necessarily hurting Khan, quite a lot landed on the gloves, but you could tell how strong they were, Khan stumbled quite a few times and had to reset.
I personally think the change came in towards the end of the second and during the third when Garcia noticeably started working the body, Khan was less active in the third round and I believe he may have looked a little hurt, I'm not sure which punch hurt him (or if it was the body work over all) but Khan's elbows were definitely noticeably more tucked in during the third, he was also circling for much longer before attacking while Garcia held the centre of the ring.
Personally, after that re-watch I can see what people have been saying, the KO was coming. Garcia was pretty underrated, to me he proved hes a smart fighter, even when Khan was hurt he didn't go mad and punch himself out, he took his time, that's the sign of a good finisher.
I know it's been done to death, but this decision has reared its head again recently so I thought I'd get everyone's opinion in the same thread.
When I first watched the fight I believed that Khan was boxing his head off, I thought he was on his way to a UD, maybe even a stoppage on cuts. Khan won the first 2rds without a doubt.
After reading the forum over the last couple of days I decided to watch the fight again, a little more carefully this time. After the second watch I'm now in the camp that believes Garcia was starting to figure Khan out. If you watch the fight minute by minute Garcia was constantly improving, in the first minute of the first round Khan couldnt miss Garcia with his right hand, towards the end of the round Garcia had started to adjust to the speed the right hand wasn't hitting as much. Manny Steward even commented at the end of the first and part way through the second that Garcia had figured out Khan's right hand.
If you decide to watch the fight again pay attention to how many times Garcia was starting to catch Khan with his looping counters, he didn't catch him clean until that third round, Garcia wasn't/isn't the most accurate of fighters but he knew what he needed to do. He through those strong counters over and over, at the end of the exchanges it was a Garcia counter that was knocking Khan off balance. I don't think they were necessarily hurting Khan, quite a lot landed on the gloves, but you could tell how strong they were, Khan stumbled quite a few times and had to reset.
I personally think the change came in towards the end of the second and during the third when Garcia noticeably started working the body, Khan was less active in the third round and I believe he may have looked a little hurt, I'm not sure which punch hurt him (or if it was the body work over all) but Khan's elbows were definitely noticeably more tucked in during the third, he was also circling for much longer before attacking while Garcia held the centre of the ring.
Personally, after that re-watch I can see what people have been saying, the KO was coming. Garcia was pretty underrated, to me he proved hes a smart fighter, even when Khan was hurt he didn't go mad and punch himself out, he took his time, that's the sign of a good finisher.
I know it's been done to death, but this decision has reared its head again recently so I thought I'd get everyone's opinion in the same thread.
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