Amir Khan defiantly insisted he was okay after being was taken to hospital as a precaution after his heavy sixth-round knockout defeat by Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in Las Vegas.
The WBC champion brutally stopped Khan with a huge right hand to make the first successful defence of his title, inflicting the fourth loss of the 29-year-old's professional career and exposing him as a natural welterweight too small to convincingly compete at the catchweight of 155lbs.
There was little shame in the nature of the defeat for Khan, who impressed with his speed and combinations in the opening five rounds until Alvarez's superior size and strength began to slow him down and leave him vulnerable to the knockout that followed.
The Briton hit the canvas so heavily it was instantly obvious the fight was over - the official time was two minutes and 37 seconds of the sixth round.
Harshly for Khan, by some distance the smaller fighter in the ring, only one of the three judges had him leading. Adailaide Byrd scored him 48-47 ahead at the point of the stoppage, while Glenn Trowbridge and Glenn Feldman surprisingly had Alvarez respectively leading 49-46 and 48-47.
Alvarez, who knelt beside Khan to check he was okay after delivering the knockout blow, stressed he was prepared to next fight the fearsome WBA, IBO and IBF champion Gennady Golovkin - who was present at the T-Mobile Arena - in a unification title fight.
"It was a human reaction to (kneel down and) make sure he was okay and I'm glad he appears to be," the 25-year-old Mexican said. "You want to win by knockout, but you don't want to hurt anybody.
"It was a little difficult at first, but I knew that I just had to keep to my game plan, and keep feinting, and that's what opened up that (knockout) punch."
He continued: "I'm not in this sport because I'm afraid. I'm not afraid of anyone, I'm willing to fight any time. I invited (Golovkin) in (to the ring) to prove I'm not afraid. We can fight for no belts, we can fight for honour and pride.
"We talked a little bit before (fighting Khan) and are willing to make (Golovkin) an offer. For me, there's no (weight) issue."
