Amir Khan Demands Lost Belts

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

The World Boxing Association have moved to hand Amir Khan his light-welterweight belt back as the dispute over the result of his first bout with Lamont Peterson has finally been left behind.

Amir Khan and his camp feel cheated and they are hopping mad. Golden Boy Promotions, on behalf of former unified junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan, is moving swiftly in an effort to have the result of Khan’s split-decision title loss to Lamont Peterson in December overturned to a no-contest and the belts returned to Khan in the wake of Peterson’s failed drug test. Peterson failed a March 19 random urine test when his sample came back positive for synthetic testosterone, a banned substance. The results ultimately forced the cancellation of his rematch with Khan scheduled for May 19 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Peterson has admitted to taking the banned substance, but his attorney, Jeff Fried, said Peterson took it under the supervision of a doctor for medical purposes — an abnormally low testosterone level. However, Peterson, who admitted to having testosterone pellets implanted inside him, did not disclose it to the Nevada State Athletic Commission or to the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, which was overseeing the random pre-fight testing that Peterson asked for and Khan agreed to.

The reason the result of the December bout in Washington — Peterson’s hometown — is in question is because Peterson admitted to taking the testosterone about a month before he faced Khan — even though Peterson’s drug tests came back clean after that bout, likely because the tests conducted by the Washington commission are less sophisticated than those conducted by VADA.

The IBF and WBA are both reviewing the situation. “We are reviewing all of this and we are still in the process of collecting information,” Peoples told ESPN.com. “The IBF has no authority to overturn a decision. I have been in contact with the D.C. commission to see what their position is and they will get back to me.”

Khan (26-2, 18 KOs), of England, is livid with Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) and wants the result changed and his titles back. “He’s a fake and I’d tell him that to his face,” Khan told ESPN.com in an interview on Wednesday night, a few hours after the fight was canceled. “Lamont Peterson is a fake and a fraud who cheated his way through. Now he will always be remembered as a cheater just like (former welterweight titlist) Antonio Margarito (who was caught trying to fight with loaded hand wraps). We used to have a lot of respect for Peterson. But now, I think he’s let all of the boxing fans around the world down for what he’s done.”

Khan added: “Of course, the first fight should be declared a no-contest. That was his first world title fight, he was at home and he would do anything he could to win. I hit him with everything in that fight and he kept getting stronger and stronger. He was recovering so fast after all the punches he was getting caught with. People were saying they had never seen him like that and now we know why.”

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