Amir Khan came up short in his bid to win Terence Crawford’s WBO World welterweight title as his big night in New York ended in bizarre circumstances.

Having been put down in the first round by the American, who was looking to cement his status as pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world, the Bolton star was pulled out in the sixth at Madison Square Garden saying he was unable to continue after a low blow, with the champion handed victory by way of technical knockout.

The Bolton star was up against it from the off and was well behind on the cards when caught by the accidental shot from Crawford.

After discussions with trainer Virgil Hunter the fight was waved off after 47 seconds of the sixth round, Khan saying he was in no position to go on with him now left pondering what is next after a fifth defeat in a decorated 38-fight career.

A cagey opening round ended with Khan being caught by an overhand right and then a left hand that dropped him to the canvas.

The 32-year-old was hurt again at the end of the opening round but survived and then recovered in rounds two, one he arguably one, and three as he went for a completely safety first approach.

The fight then began to open up again though to Crawford’s advantage.

Khan tried to match the Omaha native punch-for-punch but the champion’s body work was doing damage in the fourth before he again enjoyed the better of things in the fifth.

The challenger was plugging away but was firmly on the back foot when the night’s controversy came.

Khan would have been allowed five minutes to recover from the low blow but after cornerman Hunter told referee David Fields his man could not continue the fight was ended abruptly with the crowd not impressed.

Crawford extended his perfect record to 35 wins while Khan slipped to 33-5 and will now think long and hard about what is next.