Referee Joe Cooper presents an explanation for Khan – Peterson bout – Boxing News
Referee for the match between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson, Joe Cooper has come forward to explain his actions, even though he has not been blamed for anything. After Lamont Peterson’s positive drug test, everyone involved in the match has been disappointed.
Therefore, Joe Cooper, whose actions were considered controversial by numerous fans, has defended himself saying he did what needed to be done.
According to Cooper, “I've got people asking me why I let it go so long, why I didn't take more points away, why I didn't disqualify them. Like I told them, he [Khan] wasn't pushing that hard. Only to the point when he wasn't listening. When he [Khan] wasn't
listening, then I had to make sure. By the rules, it's not right if you can push off and shove a person. It's not right...But the bottom line is that it came to the best man won the fight, whoever it was, and I just went by the rules. In actuality, it came
down to the judges. Peterson got two points taken away from him for a knockdown, and Khan got two points taken away from him. So in actuality, I didn't have nothing to do with the fight at all.”
The fight, that was held in December last year, had Amir Khan defending his WBA and IBF super lightweight titles. Khan lost to Peterson via split decision after the referee deducted three points from his score. The result soon became a controversial one
as more and more fans demanded an inquiry. The IBF looked into the matter on Khan’s appeal and found several irregularities in the fight, however nothing on Cooper’s behalf.
Khan got an immediate rematch against Peterson, which was scheduled for May 19, 2012. Last week, just 10 days before the fight, Peterson’s drug test results sprung up. The results showed Peterson having positive levels of a banned drug, making him ineligible
for the fight. Golden Boy Promotions and Amir Khan both have filed appeals to the WBA and IBF to reverse the fight’s result. However, nothing has been confirmed yet by the IBF regarding what actions will be taken against Khan.
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