Amir Khan wants to fight just about any welterweight aside from Kell Brook. Khan has repeatedly called for a return bout with Danny Garcia, he recently topped a fan poll where Manny Pacquiao asked his fans to pick his next opponent, and now Khan is targeting a revenge fight with the man who scored a contentious decision win over him in the most controversial fight of his career: Lamont Peterson.
Last night Peterson won the WBA “world” welterweight belt with a wide points win over David Avanesyan and Khan immediately called him out.
“Peterson beat Avanesyan love that fight at 147lbs #WBAtitle,” Khan wrote on his twitter page.
A rematch would absolutely prove interesting, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the first fight, won by Peterson via 12 round split decision in December of 2011, was a great action fight. Secondly, it was hugely controversial, what with the infamous “man in the hat” who may or may not have been influencing the scoring officials, and the fact that Peterson later tested positive for testosterone; this ending the planned 2012 return fight.
If ever a fighter has the right to feel aggrieved over a loss it is Khan with this fight. Peterson appeared to benefit greatly from fighting at home in Washington DC, the referee coming under fire for being biased in Peterson’s favour. Khan lost his IBF 140 pound belt in a big upset and the Bolton man has rightly been upset about it ever since. But a rematch could put things right – either with Khan, 31-4(19) gaining revenge or with Peterson proving he is the better fighter fair and square.
But unlike the Garcia rematch he is also hoping for, a Peterson rematch is a fight Khan can definitely win (he won the first fight in the opinion of most but was robbed). Peterson could pick up a decent payday in a rematch, arguably the biggest fight out there for him right now. Khan’s career would be back on track in a pretty big way if he got this rematch and won it. Let’s see if Peterson, 35-3-1(17) wants it.
