By William Mackay: IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) is looking forward to showing boxing fans that he deserved to beat Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) last December when he beat him by a 12 round split decision by the scores 115-110 for Khan, 113-112 and 113-112 for Peterson. The two fighters will be fighting for a second time May 19th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Peterson told Sky Sports Ringside “I’m going to prove to people I’m the better fighter. In my mind I knew before we went into the first fight. Confirmed it after the fight. And going into the second fight, I will really, really show people I’m the better fighter. Whatever Khan thinks happened in Washington, DC, that was in the past. You [Khan] have the chance to change anything you think happened when we fight on May 19th.”

What Peterson may find out is that you can still be the better fighter and still come out on the losing end if one of the fighters is using fouling tactics like pushing off, pulling down on his opponents head and putting them in headlocks. If Khan is allowed to foul all night long whenever Peterson gets close to him to try and land shots, it’s going to make it next to impossible for Peterson to beat him. Khan will be hitting and running for as long as this fight lasts, and the only chance Peterson to land will be when Khan is trapped or stops. But if Khan is able to shove Peterson or grab him around the head without losing points, then it will be very difficult for Peterson to win the fight because he won’t be able to get his punches off.

I’d like to think that a good referee will be working the Khan-Peterson fight that will keep Khan’s fouling in check, but I don’t see that happening. My guess is it’ll be someone that will let Khan do whatever and it’ll put Peterson in a bad position where he’ll need a KO to win.