By William Mackay: I don’t understand why WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) will be fighting #6 ranked WBA contender Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KO’s) rather than #2 ranked contender Victor Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KO’s) to fight on April 16th at the MEN Arena, in Manchester, England. How is that Peterson, weaker, ranked lower and who recently got stomped by Timothy Bradley, is getting the fight instead of Ortiz? As far as I can tell, Ortiz is more popular with boxing fans and is a much bigger puncher than the feather-fisted Peterson.

Ortiz has Marcos Maidana-type power, but with more hand speed and coming from a southpaw stance. There’s no question in my mind that Ortiz is the much more dangerous opponent for Khan compared to Peterson, who Ortiz recently knocked down twice but was forced to settle for a 10 round majority draw on December 11th. I had Ortiz winning that fight, as he had Peterson down twice, badly hurt, bleeding and almost down a third time. Peterson got really beaten up in that fight, and that was with Ortiz boxing him rather than going out slugging the way he had done in his fight with Maidana in 2009.

Why is Khan going to fight Peterson? Is it because he’s another soft opponent for him so that Khan can get through another fight without getting knocked out again? It’s sad because you can’t steer a fighter around their entire career to avoid punchers. I think Khan would have been knocked out in his bout with Maidana recently had the referee Joe Cortez not stepped in so many times to pull Khan and Maidana apart when Khan was backed against the ropes, holding onto one of Maidana’s arms and taking huge punishment.

I think Khan would have been knocked out in that fight had Cortez not separated him and Maidana so many times. This is why I’m not pleased that Khan is now going back to fighting powder puff punchers instead of taking on Ortiz and proving he can beat a puncher without holding onto him and getting separated over and over again when hurt.