Khan confirms rematch with Peterson

Amir Khan is to face Lamont Peterson in a re-match in Las Vegas in May, the British boxer announced via Twitter yesterday.

American Peterson deprived Khan of his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles as a result of a controversial split points decision in Washington on December 10.

That led the WBA to order a re-match last month and the second Khan-Peterson bout will now take place at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Hotel on May 19.

“Big announcement. Khan vs Peterson May 19th, Mandalay Bay Hotel Vegas. At last I git (get) the fight I deserve, Big,” Khan said on his Twitter account.

There was confusion at the end of the pair’s first meeting in Washington, Peterson’s home town, with an unusually long delay between the climax of the bout and the announcement of the judges’ scorecards.

Referee Joe Cooper had previously deducted points from the 25-year-old Khan in the seventh and 12th rounds for pushing – an offence rarely punished at championship level – and did not credit Khan with what should have been a first-round knockdown, according to the WBA.

Further controversy ensued when Khan’s camp highlighted video footage of Mustafa Ameen, an IBF official who had no formal role at the bout, which they claimed showed a then ‘mystery man in a hat’ interfering with the judges’ cards.