By Scott Gilfoid: I almost died laughing at how inept Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) looked tonight in getting beaten up and put on the run by Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) in losing a 12 round split decision in Washington, DC. Khan couldn’t handle the pressure, and resorted to his usual fouling tricks to try and save his hide.

Unlike the other referees that have stood by slack-jawed letting Khan get away with foul after foul, this brave referee chose to try and get control over Khan’s fouling warning him about shoving Peterson and then taking points away when Khan chose to blow him off by ignoring the warnings.

With this loss the question still is whether Khan will go ahead and move up to the welterweight division to try and hound Floyd Mayweather Jr. into fighting him by name dropping 24/7 and bragging about he’s the best guy to fight him. Khan’s rationale for moving up in weight before the Peterson fight was that he considered himself the best fighter 140, despite not having faced a whole bunch of excellent fighters in the weight class.

Will Khan move up in weight and take the same approach that he did after getting beaten by Breidis Prescott by saying he learned a lot from the defeat, and that he would win a rematch but it’s not necessary.

Can Khan move up and still make something happen at welterweight? I kind of doubt it. Since Khan’s whole reason for moving up to welterweight is to try and hound Mayweather into fighting him, it’s pretty pointless for him to make the move now unless Golden Boy Promotions can convince Mayweather into accept this less than appealing fight. Khan is damaged goods now more than ever. Golden Boy had done a great job of making boxing fans forget how badly flawed Khan was by matching him against a handful of mediocre and/or shot fighters in the past three years.

But Peterson went and spoiled it for Golden Boy before they could cash out with Khan against Mayweather. Khan did his best, talking down Manny Pacquiao, and trying to make it like he was the best fighter to take on and beat Mayweather. It would have been the perfect cash out fight for Golden Boy, but not now.

If they had complete control over Mayweather like he was a robot, I’m sure they would immediately shove a Khan-Mayweather fight down or throat regardless of Khan’s loss tonight. There would likely be no risky rematch with Peterson, because he could potentially put the final nail in the coffin for a Khan-Mayweather fight by beating Khan a second time in a rematch. Golden Boy doesn’t control what Mayweather does, and he’ll never agree to fighting Khan anytime soon if ever.

So does Khan still move up and look silly trying to make a go of it at welterweight or does he stay at light welterweight and try to prove he’s the best fighter at this weight? I think he needs to stay put, fight Peterson again, prove he’s the better fighter, and then try and beat Timothy Bradley, Mike Alvarado, Humberto Soto, Marcos Maidana and Ajose Olusgun before moving up.

If Khan has any brain cells left after fighting those tough light welterweights, then I’m all for him moving up in weight. He could then legitimately say he’s the best fighter at 140, but he sure as heck can’t say that now, not without people laughing.