By Scott Gilfoid: I’m trying the best I can to understand Amir Khan’s preoccupation with fighting a rematch against IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson in a neutral venue. I can understand a fighter wanting to fight in a neutral venue. That obviously makes sense to me, but Khan is saying he’s going to knock Peterson out and take the judges out of the equation.

So why then is a neutral venue to important to Khan? Can you answer me that? If Khan is really supposed to KO Peterson like he says he’s going to, then where is the importance of a neutral venue fall in all this? Why would it be important when the judges will have to control over what happens?

Khan said this in a recent interview in Pakistan with Ary news: “If a rematch happens I will knock him out just to prove to people that I won the fight the first time.”

There it is, folks. Khan is saying he’s going to knockout Peterson the next time they fight, so why is a neutral venue needed in all this?

Okay, here’s my take in why I think Khan really needs a neutral venue in order to beat Peterson and Khan knocking Peterson out has nothing to do with it. I think what Khan wants by asking for a neutral venue is a place where a referee will keep a hands off approach to warning Khan about his constant fouling and will let Khan have at it all night long with the shoving, pulling down on Peterson’s head, holding and hitting and putting him in headlocks.

If you see it from that viewpoint, a neutral venue – read: a venue with a referee that turns a blind eye to Khan’s fouling – would be very important for Khan. If Khan is allowed to shove Peterson as hard as possible each time he gets near Khan to work on the inside, you know what kind of advantage that is? You ever shoved someone before in a fight?

If you’ve doing the shoving, you can keep the fight on the outside and dominate if you can fight at that distance. I think Khan with his assorted fouling left unchecked, he’s a formidable fighter and almost impossible to beat. Just imagine trying to get in close to him like Peterson was trying or like Marcos Maidana was trying after he had Khan hurt in the 10th, only to be shoved or put in some kind of head lock while the referee just stands there gawking. What’s the point of having a referee if he’s just going to stand there and let Khan foul?

So, yeah, I can see a neutral venue being a very important thing for Khan in a rematch with Peterson or in a fight against anyone. If you’ve got a referee that won’t control Khan when he’s at fouling, that’s a big plus for Khan, because he becomes not just a boxer, but a boxer/MMA fighter taking on a traditional boxer. As you know, an MMA fighter has a big advantage over a boxer because he can grab and twist their necks and hold and hit. That’s why I think it’s a big mistake if Peterson ever agrees to fight Khan where there’s a chance that a referee will just let Khan foul away without controlling the fight.