It's fair to say that Amir Khan's return to the boxing ring on Saturday night was a disappointing one.The Brit met WBO champion Terence Crawford at New York's Madison Square Garden full of optimism, but ultimately, fell well short against the American.Khan keeled over after a low blow, and seeing as he was already suffering with an arm injury, his trainer Virgil Hunter threw in the towel in the sixth round to end a one-sided affair.Having spoken to Hunter, referee David Fields called off the fight and declared Crawford the victor via technical knockout.Speaking after the fight, Khan conceded that the blows he took meant that he had no other option but to end the contest and that he lost to the better fighter.

"I now realise why he's one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I'm a good boxer but he was showcasing great skill, great movement," said Khan.

"I was caught with a shot right below the belt and I could feel it. I was in pain. I could feel it in my stomach, and my legs kind of seized.

"I couldn't continue, I could not continue. I'm not one to give up any fight. I'll fight to the end, you have to knock me out to get me to give up you know. I was hit with a hard shot below the belt."

Khan was dropped by an overhand right in the first round after over-reaching with a left jab, and after making it to his feet, he was then caught again before the bell.

And Khan's troubles from that point onward were something that was picked up by Tyson Fury's trainer Ben Davison.

Davison drew a lot of praise for his performance in Fury's brilliant fight against Deontay Wilder, when his clear and confident instructions were echoed in his fighter's performance on the night.

And speaking to BT Sport, Davison pinpointed the troubles that Khan would have against Crawford due to his technique during his fight against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

"Khan often has a habit of when he's moving to his left, he'll bring his back foot round and his feet come in line which also leads you to lean over your front foot a little bit higher.

"If you look at his back foot, it leads him to lean over his front foot a little bit, with his low left hand spells disaster."

And Davison turned out to be spot on, with Crawford exploiting this weakness to floor Khan in the first round, a move that he never really recovered from.

Despite the defeat, Khan remains bullish about the calibre of opponent that he will still be able to attract.

But on this latest showing, he has got a lot of work to do if he wants to keep getting headline fights in the biggest venues.