Fagan: Fighting on one leg

Punishment for Fagan

Again, no disrespect to Amir - he's a great kid and a brilliant boxer, but I just don't think he'd have had it quite so easy if I hadn't broken my ankle in the first round.

Oisin Fagan
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Former Irish champion Oisin Fagan has revealed he broke his ankle in the first round of his defeat to Amir Khan on Saturday night.

The lightweight known as Gael Force slumped to the sixth defeat of his career at London's ExCel Arena as Khan made the most of his superior power and speed.

Fagan lasted until midway through the second round before referee Mickey Vann called a halt to proceedings, although Fagan has revealed he was fighting more than just the pain of the punches at the end.

Bad break

"Im absolutely gutted," Fagan said. "First of all I don't want to take anything away from Amir Khan - he's an exceptional fighter and a lovely kid and looked very sharp in there, but truth be known, that when I went down the first time, in the first round, I broke my ankle.

"Obviously I didn't know for certain it was broken until I got it checked out, but I knew there was something wrong, as I couldn't put my weight on my left foot; hence the reason I looked so uneasy and off-balance in there.

"Anybody who watched the fight or replays it can clearly see me getting up after the first knockdown and having to use the ropes to steady myself while limping. Then there is footage of me hopping around the ring thereafter.

"It's very rare that I go down in a fight. I have to hand it to Amir, it was a lovely shot to put me down the first time, with a nice short little right hand, but after that, it was the fact that I kept coming forward and when I put my weight on my broken ankle, it just seemed to buckle from underneath me.

"Again, no disrespect to Amir - he's a great kid and a brilliant boxer, but I just don't think he'd have had it quite so easy if I hadn't broken my ankle in the first round."