PAUL MCCLOSKEY and promoter Barry Hearn have vowed to lodge an official complaint with the WBA after a ringside doctor ordered Saturday’s light-welterweight title fight against Amir Khan to be stopped after just six rounds.

Following a scrappy opening in which Khan clearly had the upper hand, the Derry fighter picked up a nasty gash above his left eye after an accidental clash of heads midway through the sixth round.

Referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight immediately in order to allow Dr Fraser Pinkney to assess McCloskey and, when he decided that the fighter should not continue, the bout was decided by the judges on the basis of the opening six rounds.

All three judges were unanimous in their verdict, awarding the fight to Khan by a scoreline of 60-54 with the defending champion winning all six rounds in their opinion.

The controversial decision to stop the fight has been slammed by McCloskey and Hearn who claim that the extensive bleeding could have been stopped rather quickly by the corner’s cuts man, Eamonn Magee.

“I’ve been waiting for this fight my whole life and it has been taken away from me by a doctor,” said McCloskey afterwards.

“My corner were not even given a chance to work on it (the cut). I’m shocked and I am numb. It’s ridiculous.”

Hearn was every bit as outraged as his fighter, saying that “I’ve seen thousands thousands of fights and I’ve never in my life seen a fight stopped for such an innocuous cut, especially bearing in mind it’s a world title fight.”

The referee has bags of experience, I don’t know about the doctor, I don’t know why he was called in quite frankly.

The ultimate responsibility is the referee’s. This referee has done 40 or 50 world title fights. I’ve seen other fights he’s refereed with far more significant cuts that have been allowed to box on.

The promoter confirmed that the British Boxing Board of Control will be investigating the fight’s conclusion and that he had also contacted the WBA to ask them to look into the matter.

“We are absolutely looking for a rematch,” he said, “and if we don’t get a rematch I’d expect Amir Khan to vacate his title and Paul to go for it again.”

Comfortable

Despite the judges’ decision to award all six rounds to Khan, McCloskey felt that he had held his own against the “tiring” champion who was visibly struggling to find his range early on.

“The plan was to box him for five or six rounds and then step on the gas, and I thought it was going to plan up until that point,” the Derryman said.

He was so tired in there, his legs were gone. I could feel, a fighter knows.

Of course he won the early rounds, but we knew that and I knew I was still strong. I knew I was going to get to him.

Unsurprisingly, Khan and his corner dismissed McCloskey’s analysis as bluster with the 24-year-old promising that a knockout was imminent had the fight not been stopped.

“There’s no point in giving him a rematch. I know if it had of been close, then it might be an issue, but it wasn’t, so it doesn’t matter,” said Khan.

“I caught him with a clean shot in the fifth round and his legs went, so any minute he was going to go.”

Barring a situation in which he is forced to fight McCloskey again, the champion’s next opponent is likely to be WBC and WBO light-welterweight title holder Timothy Bradley.

It has already been reported that the unification bout has been pencilled in for July 23 with Khan eyeing up the prospect of a showdown with Manny Pacquiao if he can see off the American.