WBA gives Amir Khan another go at Lamont Peterson

Lindy Rumer January 14, 2012 0

WBA gives Amir Khan another go at Lamont Peterson

SAINT CLAIRSVILLE: The continuous efforts of a rematch by Amir Khan against Lamont Peterson brought him fruits Friday when the World Boxing Federation ordered for a rematch within 180 days of the bout.

Amir Khan and his promoter has been demanding a rematch following a shock defeat in Light-Welterweight world title fight in Washington last month and a formal appeal was lodged by the Golden Boy Promotions on Amir Khan’s behalf to the World Boxing Federation.

The WBA announced its decision Friday ordering a rematch within 180 days of the controversial bout.

Following the WBA decision, Amir Khan, a Pakistan-born British boxer, told reporters, “I’m pleased that justice has been done and the WBA has ordered an immediate rematch. All we ask as sportsmen is for a fair and level playing field when we compete”.

Talking about how high he rated Lamont Peterson, Amir Khan said, “Peterson proved in our fight that he is a great competitor. I hope a second bout will be just as exciting. I want to prove without doubt that I’m the best in the 140-pound division by taking care of business in the rematch.”

The last month’s bout became a controversial after Amir Khan and his promoters objected to the decision which saw deduction in Khan’s points in the seventh and 12^th rounds for pushing despite of the fact that the British boxer had knocked down his American opponent.

The WBA said that had Referee Joe Cooper not deducted points, both of the boxers would have same number of points thus resulting in Amir Khan’s victory in a way that he would have kept his titles but the deduction made a huge impact on the outcome of the bout.

With that victory, Lamont Peterson grabbed the WBA as well as the International Boxing Federation crowns and improved his record to 30-1-1 with 15 knockouts to his name while on the other hand, Amir Khan was reduced to 26-2 with 18 knockouts what would have been 19 knockouts.

On the other hand, Lamont Peterson’s camp is not happy with the ruling as their preparations for a possible fight against Manny Pacquiao received a major blow.

Barry Hunter, Peterson’s manager and trainer told reporters, “Unfortunately, we are in this process of dealing with these unfounded protests. Khan blames everyone and everything but his performance and lack of ability to make adjustments in the ring for his loss. It would be an understatement to characterize Lamont as being disappointed in the unprofessional manner in which Khan is attempting to discredit his performance in the ring and victory.”

Promoters are pretty happy with the WBA verdict as they find another chance of staging Khan-Peterson bout.

Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer said, “I’m thrilled about the decision and hope that we can start negotiations and get the rematch done. Both Amir and Lamont are terrific young men and athletes who fought their hearts out in Washington last December. I am sure that fight fans from around the world applaud the WBA’s decision.”