Amir Khan says he will have to beat Lamont Peterson to set up Floyd Mayweather clash – Boxing news
Amir Khan, who is currently the unified World Boxing Association Super and International Boxing Federation Light Welterweight Champion, reckons losing is not an option for him in his upcoming fight against the Columbian pugilist, Lamont Peterson.
Khan said that if he has to set up a mega-fight with the undefeated American legend Floyd Mayweather, he will have to beat Peterson.
The Bolton’s finest, Khan, who is more commonly known as King Khan, will make his title defence against Peterson on December 10, 2011 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
This is Khan’s last fight at the 140-pound division, as he will then move up to the 147 pounds division where the likes Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather operate. Since Khan is keen to have a fight with Mayweather, he thinks beating Peterson is a must
for him.
“There's no Floyd Mayweather fight if I look past this guy. If I got beat, they'd pass me over,” Khan said. “I'm starting to build my career in America. I want it to last for a long, long time. I cannot afford to lose. I don't want to start at the bottom
again.”
The 27-year-old Peterson holds a record of winning 29 of his 31 professional fights (1 Draw), with 15 of his wins coming by the way of a knockout. Moreover, Peterson will also have a home-crowd advantage against Khan. Therefore, Khan knows he will have a
tough night on December 10.
“Lamont Peterson is a very dangerous opponent, and I'm training for this fight like a challenger. I've seen other fighters make that mistake before, and I've learned from that,” Khan stated.
In the end Khan, admired Peterson for taking the fight, as the Brit was didn’t have many options in front of him.
“Fights are hard for me to get in this division, and I have a lot of respect for Lamont for taking this fight,” said Khan.
All that left to see is whether Khan is able to win against Peterson in his backyard or not.
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