By John F. McKenna (McJack): Former WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) will be seeking justice when he engages new WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) on May 19 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.

Peterson showed a great deal of grit and determination in overcoming Khan’s speed and precision punching when he took Khan’s titles in December.

Peterson’s status since his defeat of Khan has been on the upswing and there was even speculation that he would be the next opponent for WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s). Pacquiao instead chose undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KO’s) as his next opponent. Bradley decisioned Peterson in December of 2009.

Khan started a campaign almost immediately after his loss to Peterson to get him back into the ring in an effort to get his title belts back. Immediately after the fight, Peterson said that he would be willing to give Khan a rematch, but since that time it became questionable as to whether the two would fight again anytime soon.

It was thought by many boxing observers that Khan took his eye off the ball so to speak, and focused more on landing a fight with undefeated WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) than Peterson. Khan paid dearly for not paying more attention to Peterson and wound up losing a controversial decision.

The controversy began when referee Joe Cooper took the unusual step of deducting a point on two separated occasions from Khan for shoving. Long time boxing pundits were hard pressed to remember another incident in which a fighter was penalized points for shoving during a boxing match. The controversy increased when the master score card disappeared immediately after the match. The score card reappeared a couple of days later in pristine condition, leading to speculation that it had been tampered with.

The most controversial aspect ot the fight however was tha appearance of a “mystery man” who showed up at ringside next to WBA judging supervisor Michael Welsh. The “mystery man” was later identified as Mustafa Armeen. It was determined that Armeen did not work for either the WBA or the IBF and had no business being at ringside.

Armeen only added more fuel to the fire with his explanation that he made a correction in the scorecards while he was at ringside. Armeen was seen on videotape celebrating in Peterson’s corner after the fight when the decision was announced.

WBA officials ruled that with all the controversy in the fight that Amir Khan was deserving of a rematch. Now that Khan has achieved his objective, the onus is on him to put in an impressive performance in the rematch against Peterson.