By Ryan Waugh In London: Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson will lock horns once more on 19 May at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas in possibly the most eagerly awaited fight of the year.
The pair squared up to each other at the Hilton hotel in London, for the first time since Peterson became WBA and IBF light-welterweight Champion.
The bout between the gladiators which took place in Washington DC last December, could easily have been the bout of the year after a relentless 12 round battle.
However, the aftermath of events dominated the headlines with Khan’s team not happy with the referee’s performance for penalising him two points for pushing during the contest.
The complaints continued as further issues were raised with the score cards and the mystery of the guy in the hat, who was later identified as Mustafa Ameen.
With the dust now starting to finally settle, the rematch has been accepted by Peterson’s camp and today’s London press conference was conducted in a gentlemanly fashion but with the thorny issues still prevalent.
Regarding the rematch in May, Khan said: “We are not going to make any mistakes at all, “said Khan.
“We will make no mistakes this time. I have started early for this fight and I will meet up with Freddie Roach next week and train at the Wild card gym before going to the Philippines to spar with Manny Pacquiao and do some altitude training.
“I will have some new sparring partners as well and also try out new ideas.
“We’ll see a different Amir Khan for this fight. I’ll be explosive, as always, and maybe this fight can be one of the fights of the year too.
“It is a make or break fight for me-I have a lot to lose, but so does Peterson as well.”
However, Khan was hesitant to admit that Peterson was a worthy champion and said: “I don’t think Lamont is a true champion but I still have a lot of respect for him.”
With the champion, Peterson listening carefully to every word from Khan-he was a true gentleman throughout and conducted himself as a champion.
“I took the rematch-It was a great fight and we should do it again for the fans, “said Peterson.
“Amir says he has started training earlier than usual, well I have been training since the day I won the fight. You (Khan) have the chance to make things right. I’m looking forward to a good fight.
“I will die in the ring-I mean what I say.”
March 13, 2012
Subscribe to feed
