By William Mackay: IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach was really lathering on the compliments of Khan’s opponent for this Saturday night Lamont Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KO’s), saying this is the best guy that Khan has faced.

That’s kind of a big reach on Roach’s part because nobody believes that the light hitting Peterson is the best fighter that Khan has faced. He may be the best guy in terms of boxing skills, but the best fighter? We saw Khan get knocked around by Marcos Maidana last December and practically have to be saved by referee Joe Cortez with his constant getting in the way while Maidana trying to finish Khan off in the last three rounds.

Does Roach really think that Peterson is better Maidana? I don’t. I think Maidana is clearly a better fighter than Peterson, and would likely knock him cold or walk right through him if they were to fight.

It looks like Roach is trying to build up this fight to make Khan look better than he is and to make it so he gets a lot of credit for facing Peterson rather than say Maidana, who Khan really should be fighting again but with a different referee.

Roach said to Ringtv “I think that this is our toughest test. This is the first guy in the weight class who is really going to be as big as Amir, and he’s strong and maybe even a little bit stronger on the inside and in the middle.

Let’s put some sunlight on some the nice compliments that Roach is feeding Peterson and look at the reality of the situation. Peterson was soundly beaten by Timothy Bradley in 2009, losing every round of a 12 round decision. Is this really a great opponent or just another light hitting safe pick for Khan?

Clearly Peterson isn’t toughest opponent of Khan’s a career; he’s someone with a flashy record built on 2nd tier opposition for the most part with a controversial 10 round draw with Victor Ortiz. I saw that fight and Peterson should have lost. This is a mismatch. Khan is better than Peterson and won’t have to worry about getting knocked out.

Khan had to be practically dragged kicking and screaming into a fight against Maidana, and it’ll likely be the same way in the future if he ever does fight him again, which I doubt.