Judgement Day for Amir Khan: Lamont Peterson to decide immediate rematch or not – Boxing news
The judgement day is here for Amir Khan, since Lamont Peterson, IBF/WBA light welterweight champion will be deciding if he wants to go for the immediate rematch against or not.
Khan, who holds 26 wins, 2 losses and 18 KO’s in his portfolio, never accepted his defeat against Peterson, charging the judges and the referee with wrongdoings. Khan initially appealed for the decision to be reversed but later settled down for an immediate
rematch endorsed by the IBF.
However, later on, Peterson’s side appealed to the IBF against the immediate match judgement. In reply, Khan’s side, including Golden Boy, offered a 50-50 split of the total revenue to the champion.
Eventually, the day has come for Lamont Peterson to decide if he wants to go ahead with the rematch or not. According to source, if the rematch takes place then it will be at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, in California on May 19.
At this particular venue, Khan will have an edge over Peterson since there is a huge number of Pakistanis dwelling nearby who will be supporting the British-Pakistani former champion.
Golden Boy had previously quashed reports of selecting the venue for pressurizing Peterson and called it in a neutral venue. However, since Peterson hails from the USA, most of his fans are in Washington, DC, whereas Khan’s base is LA.
As per speculations, Peterson’s side will be accepting the offer, since there are no other major events for Lamont this year. If he misses out on this, he will be losing a big chunk of revenue. The controversial decision which made Lamont the champion was
showered with wrath from Khan’s fans worldwide. Lamont initially agreed to the fact that Khan fought well and he would any day go for a rematch, but later backed off.
The fight that was held in Washington, DC, was lost by Khan by a 12 round split decision. Khan was the prominent fighter throughout the fight, however due to a couple of mistakes he committed, including the push and pull fowl, led him to the loss.
Khan, however, denied that he was involved in any such wrongdoings and said that he deserves a rematch soon.
Tonight, it will be decided if Khan gets his chance to regain his titles or not. If he will, it will be one of the most happening fights of 2012.
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