LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - WBC champ Danny Garcia added the WBA light welterweight belt to his collection with a stunning fourth-round upset of Britain's Amir Khan in a unification title fight here on Saturday.
American Garcia scored three knockdowns with the end coming with 32 seconds left in the fourth round when referee Kenny Bayless stopped the bout.
Garcia, who already had the WBC title, now has 24 wins and no losses. Garcia, of Philadelphia, kept his perfect record intact by surviving the first two rounds before using a devastating left hook late in the third round that caught Khan flush on the right ear.
Garcia said he even surprised himself a little bit with the shot that changed the fight but it was one he worked on with his sparring partners during training camp.
''I knew he was coming in so I slipped down and set up my left hook and just fired it,'' Garcia said. ''That is the same hook I hit (Erik) Morales with. We practiced that in camp.
Garcia, 24, was coming off a 12-round unanimous decision over Morales four months ago.
Khan is now the biggest trophy on Garcia's unblemished record and this win could signal a jump for the American into the welterweight division where such stars as unbeaten Floyd Mayweather and Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao await him.
''I want to fight the best. Whoever is out there,'' Garcia said.
Khan, of Great Britain, suffered just the third loss of his career.
Khan had lost the WBA and International Boxing Federation titles last December in a controversial split decision to Lamont Peterson.
The decision to return the title to Khan came after Peterson failed a drug test.
Garcia said his game plan Saturday worked perfectly.
''We knew he would come out fast and try to jump on me early because (Khan's trainer) Freddie Roach thinks I am a slow starter,'' Garcia said. ''So I was going to slip shots and feel his speed and feel his power and after the third round I was going to step it up.''
HAYE KOS CHISORA IN 5TH
In London, David Haye knocked out Dereck Chisora in the fifth round of their all-British heavyweight grudge fight at Upton Park on Saturday.
Five months after they brawled in Munich at a news conference, Haye put Chisora down for good with a left hook, but Haye (26-2, 24 KOs) was coming under severe pressure until the knockout in an exciting fight before 30,000 spectators.
The fight panned out as expected. Former world cruiserweight and heavyweight champ Haye had speed and a harder punch, while Chisora (15-4, 9 KO) used his extra 37 pounds to crowd Haye and land threatening blows.
They continued hitting after the bell in the second and third rounds, and Chisora avoided trouble in the fourth when Haye let up. In the decisive round, Chisora survived an eight count but another Haye left hook dropped Chisora and referee Luis Pabon waved it all over.
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