ESPN.com reported earlier tonight that IBF and WBA world light welterweight champion Lamont “Havoc” Peterson will defend his crowns in a rematch against Amir "King" Khan at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on May 19.
Khan (26-2, 18 KOs) relinquished his belts to Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) on a controversial split decision loss in December at the Convention Center in “Havoc’s” hometown of Washington, D.C.
A few weeks following the suspect bout, the WBA officially ordered Peterson to again throw fists with Khan.
"Both sides are signed, but this has been one of the most difficult negotiations I have had for any fight I have ever been involved with," Golden Boy promoter Richard Schaefer told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. "There was a lot of back and forth, but it all ended good in getting this fight done. I think it's one of the most anticipated rematches. It's the right fight for Lamont and the right fight for Amir, and I'm really excited both parties agreed to do this fight."
In their initial scrap, Khan indeed was sandbagged by referee Joe Cooper who deducted two points from the erstwhile titlist for pushing in the seventh and 12th rounds.
"I was shocked. There was no warning," Khan, 25, told ESPN.com regarding the curious subtractions. "It was like I was against him and the referee."
Khan, who had triumphed in six consecutive bouts, scored the only knockdown in the fight late in the first round.
“King Khan,” a Pakistani-British boxer who at 17 became the youngest Englishman to win an Olympic medal when he captured a silver as a lightweight at the 2004 games in Greece, so badly wants to avenge his defeat that he reportedly agreed to split the purse despite his far greater box-office appeal.
"We offered 50-50 because that was how much Amir wanted this fight," Schaefer said. "There were times where it looked like we were close to getting it done, but it was a drawn out process. But in the end it was not a sanctioning organization, a TV network, the media or fans who made this rematch. It's the fighters who wanted to get the fight done. It was Lamont Peterson saying he didn't want to fight anybody else except Amir Khan and it was Amir Khan saying he wanted to fight only Lamont Peterson. That is what makes fights.”
Roger "Pit" Perron is a respected boxing trainer from Brockton (Mass.) who now works with Mike and Rich Cappiello at their gym, Cappiello Brothers Boxing and Training.
Perron completely agrees that Khan was shafted.
“Amir Kahn got mugged,” said Perron, 75, who helped work with Marvelous Marvin Hagler in the 1980s. “Without those two point deductions, Kahn was an easy winner. There will be a rematch. But, not in D.C. and Kahn will destroy him.”
Peterson is an extremely competent pugilist who has not been overcome since he suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Timothy Bradley in December 2009.
Nevertheless, it is readily evident that Khan is a more overall talented prizefighter than Peterson.
In approximately three months, Amir Khan will cause Lamont Peterson “Havoc” and “destroy him” within nine rounds.
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