By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan says that he likes the idea of facing newly crowned WBA World welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) after his 12 round unanimous decision win over WBA 147lb champion David Avanesyan (22-2-1, 11 KOs) last Saturday night. Peterson beat Khan by a 12 round split decision victory on December 10, 2011. It was a controversial win for Peterson, as Khan twice had points deducted in the fight for him pushing off in rounds 7 and 12.
“Peterson beat Avanesyan love that fight at 147lbs #WBA title,” said Khan via his Twitter. “Fights “I’m confident that can happen in 2017. Garcia vs. Thurman winner. Avanseyan vs. Peterson winner. Miguel Cotto or Kel brook #Big Year.”
I do agree with Khan that he can get some of those fights. I don’t know about Khan fighting Cotto. That might be a tough one for Khan to try and get, because Cotto appears to be down to his last two fights of his career before he retires from the sport. Cotto is interested in facing Juan Manuel Marquez next followed by a fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in December.
Khan would be better off facing Peterson than the winner of the Danny Garcia vs. Keith Thurman fight. If Khan could refrain from shoving Peterson around the ring all night, he might be able to beat him. But I don’t give Khan much chance of beating the winner of the Garcia-Thurman fight. Those guys hit too hard, and Khan has had problems taking big shots lately.
Khan is coming off of a really bad 6th round knockout loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in his last fight in May of 2016. We don’t know whether the knockout has impacted Khan’s ability to take head shots or not. I guess we’ll find out soon. I’d hate to see Khan nosedive to the canvas at the first significant punch he’s hit with in his tune-up fight, which is supposed to be taking place in April.
I’m starting to doubt whether that fight will actually happen in April, given that Khan STILL doesn’t have an opponent picked out. But if Khan drops for the 10 count after getting hit by a head shot from his likely feather-fisted opponent in his next fight, then you would have to assume that the knockout loss to Canelo shook something loose in his head, making him more susceptible to knockouts.
The outcome of the Khan vs. Peterson fight was perceived as a hometown decision win for Peterson by come boxing fans, as the fight took place in his hometown of Washington, DC. I saw the fight and I didn’t see anything controversial about it.
Khan was pushing Peterson like mad around the ring, and it looked more like a playground fight than a boxing match with all the shoving being done. The referee that worked the fight Joseph Cooper gave Khan repeated warnings to stop shoving Peterson, but he wouldn’t follow his instructions. Cooper gave Khan a lot of chances to clean up his act in terms of his shoving.
When Khan wouldn’t stop his MMA type shoving, he was docked a point in round 7. When Khan STILL wouldn’t stop with the shoving, he lost another point in the 12th. Cooper was very patient with Khan by letting him get away with a TON of shoving from rounds 8 through 11. In the 12th, Khan’s shoving got to the point where it was interrupting the flow of the fight, so Cooper took another point off.
As for the Kell Brook fight, Khan doesn’t seem all that interested in taking that one right now. han says the fight will take place when he wants it to. That’s not good news for Brook, because he and his promoter Eddie Hearn really want that fight. It’s not happening soon enough for them though, as Brook is now signed to face his unbeaten #1 IBF mandatory challenger Errol Spence Jr. in his next fight on May 20 in Sheffield, UK.
If things don’t work out well for Brook in that fight, then it’s going to leave him in terrible position to try and get a fight against Khan. Besides the weak bargaining position Brook will be in with him having lost two consecutive fights, it’s going to be a hard sell to the British boxing public.
How do you see a fight between a guy with two straight knockout losses like Brook and Khan to the fans? Brook hasn’t been knocked out by Spence, but I’m predicting that’s what’s going to happen. Brook is a good fighter, but I think he’s met his match – again. Khan will probably put Brook on permanent ignore if he loses badly to Spence. There are too many fighters that Khan can fight at welterweight like Manny Pacquiao, Keith Thurman, Spence and Danny Garcia. Khan might also be able to get the Cotto fight if his manager Al Haymon can negotiate the fight. That would be an interesting one. I don’t think it’s a good idea for Khan to fight Cotto right now, but if he wants the payday, then it might be there for him.
“Brook fight happens when I say,” said Khan. “How about Miguel Cotto as his next fight was callled off? How about winner of Avanesyan V Peterson? Next? Winner of Garcia or Thurman end of the year? Who should I fight next in April at 147lbs. Send me your thoughts,” said Khan.
Peterson is a winnable fight for han as long as he can move for 12 rounds, and not get disqualified for shoving him around the ring like he did the last time they fought.
Peterson looked good last Saturday night in whipping David Avanesyan by a 12 round unanimous decision to win his WBA 147lb strap. Peterson took the fight to the inside and wore Avanesyan down with body shots. Peterson can now fight the winner of the March 4 fight between Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman OR face Khan if he’s serious about wanting to fight him. I doubt Khan will want to take a risky rematch with Peterson though, even though he would have a decent chance of winning. It’s still a risky fight for Khan to take. The money wouldn’t be huge like it would against Brook, the Garcia-Thurman winner of Cotto, and the risk would definitely be there. If Peterson beats Khan, it might finish off his boxing career.