The World Boxing Association (WBA) has ordered a rematch between Britain’s Amir Khan and American Lamont Peterson after finding several irregularities during their welterweight title fight in Washington DC last Dec. 10. The fight was for Khan’s WBA and IBF Jr. Welterweight titles and fought in Peterson’s hometown. Peterson dethroned Khan by taking the fight on a close and controversial split decision.

The WBA made the announcement on Jan. 13 and said the pair has 180 days to complete the rematch.  Khan’s promotion company, Golden Boy, protested the scoring of the fight because referee Joseph Cooper deducted two points, one each in the seventh and 12^th round from Khan, for pushing during the fight. Cooper also ruled that Peterson slipped to the canvas in the first round after he went down following a punch from Khan. Without the point deductions Khan would have retained his championships since he lost by scores of 113-112 on two cards and won 115-111 on the third.

However, rematches usually aren’t ordered in such circumstances, especially since the referee has the power to deduct points where he sees fit. But there were other issues that prompted the WBA to order the rematch. The most serious was the presence of Mustafa Ameen at ringside. This unauthorized individual was caught in photographs speaking to one of the judge’s during the fight and handling the judge’s scorecards.

The WBA said there were also discrepancies between the scorecards of the WBA and IBF and the Washington athletic commission. The photos that were published in newspapers and on internet sites across the world clearly show Ameen speaking with a judge while the fight was taking place, with the judge not watching the fight. This alone should be immediate cause for a rematch. Any judge who fails to watch the fight he’s scoring should also be suspended.

Richard Schaefer, the head of Golden Boy Promotions, said he’s thrilled that the WBA has ordered another fight and hopes it’s as good as the first one, which was easily one of the best of the year. In addition, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) also said that Ameen didn’t have any business being at ringside and will meet on Jan 18^th to decide if their version of the title will also be up for grabs in the rematch.

Ameen does some work for the IBF’s educational fund and the boxing organization requested a press pass for him. However, he had no other credentials and doesn’t work for either the IBF or WBA. He was also photographed celebrating in the ring after the fight. Ameen has been asked to attend the IBF meeting to explain what he was doing at ringside throughout the fight.

However, just because a rematch has been ordered it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to take place. Peterson could possibly give up the WBA belt or both of them for matter and then look for a bigger-money fight against Manny Pacquiao. It’s been reported that Pacquiao is scheduled to fight on June 9 against an unnamed opponent and Peterson is one of four opponents being considered. The others are Miguel Cotto, Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez.

But Pacquiao could even end up fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. if an agreement can be reached for a fight before Mayweather heads to jail on June 9 to serve his 90-day sentence for domestic abuse. If Pacquiao does meet Mayweather, there’s a good chance Peterson will go ahead with the rematch against Khan.

It’s typical of professional boxing to entertain us with one of the best fights in years on Dec. 10 and then to shoot itself in the foot due to a controversial decision. WBA and IBF Jr. Welterweight Champion Amir Khan of England traveled to Washington D.C and took on Lamont Peterson in his hometown and the two boxers put on one of the best displays of determination, courage, speed and skill for many a moon.

However, the excellent fight was marred with controversy when Peterson won by a split decision by scores of 113-112, 113-112, and 110-115. Fans weren’t upset with what many were calling a hometown decision; instead it was a result of hometown refereeing.

The judges couldn’t be blamed for the scoring since Khan would have won a unanimous decision if it wasn’t for referee Joe Cooper, also from the Washington area, who deducted two points from Khan during the bout. Without the deductions, Khan would have won by scores of 114-113, 114-113, and 117-110.

The two traded shots and combinations back and forth over 12 exciting rounds and while many rounds were hard to score, the general consensus of most fans was that Khan did enough to hang onto his titles, even if it was a draw. He dropped Peterson in the first round to jump into a quick lead on the scorecards.

Peterson turned it up during the middle rounds and Khan seemed to control the later ones. He may now regret the decision to take on Peterson in his backyard. However, there can be no criticism of Peterson, who definitely fought the fight of his career in this epic battle. He’s generally known as a boxer first, but turned this fight into an all-out brawl and just kept pressing the action.

Cooper took a point from Khan in the seventh round for pushing, which is very rare in a boxing match. Points are often taking for excessive holding, but pushing is generally considered to be part of a fight. Khan was also deducted a point in the 12^th and final round, but it’s unclear if this was also for pushing or for hitting on the break. The problem is nobody knows for sure since Cooper hasn’t explained his calls. Cooper never gave Khan any strict warnings prior to the deductions either.

Khan and his trainer Freddie Roach were upset about the point deductions and said after the fight that the refereeing was bias in their eyes. It’s hard to argue with them, but perhaps the best thing about the controversial decision is that fans will get to see a rematch of this classic. Peterson said he’d definitely give the former champion a chance to win his titles back.

Khan said Peterson was leading with his head low and he was pushing it away to make sure he didn’t get butted. Peterson said he didn’t mind the pushing, but didn’t like having his head held down by the Englishman. Khan’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya has asked the commission for an explanation of the refereeing decisions and the scoring.

If you agree with the decision or not, it was an all-action fight that entertained from start to finish. With the win, the 27-year-old Peterson raised his record to 30-1-1, with 15 KOs while the 25-year-old Khan’s record fell to 26-2, with 18 KOs.

Khan was attempting to defend his titles for the sixth time and will now be more determined than ever to win them back. A rematch is almost certain and two of the major negotiating points are bound to be the location of the fight and the referee. Washington D.C. and Joe Cooper will definitely be out of the question for Khan’s camp.

It’s understandable why we’ll never see Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko duke it out to unify the heavyweight boxing titles, and that’s because they’re brothers. But is being buddies a good reason for boxers not to fight each other? According to trainer Freddie Roach it is and he said that’s why we’ll never see Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan trying to punch each other’s lights out in the ring, other than in sparring sessions.

This is bad news for the millions of fans who’d love to see them go toe to toe as they’re two of the most entertaining and charismatic fighters in the sport right now. Boxing fans have often missed out on some great matchups over the years to due legal and promotional issues, but is this good enough reason to pull the plug on a Pacquiao vs Khan scrap?

There have been dozens fights between friends in the past, but these two guys don’t need the money and there are other intriguing opponents out there for both of them. That’s Roach’s theory anyway. But if Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t agree to fight Pacquiao anytime soon the public might get a little tired of shelling out for pay-per-view fights where Pacquiao isn’t challenged. Sooner or later they’re going to want to see him take on the best, which could be Khan.

But time’s running out since Pacquiao is taking on Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time this Nov. 12 and said he only wants two more fights after that because he plans on concentrating on his political career in the Philippines. The fight would be appealing and many experts feel Khan would actually have a good chance of winning due to all of the sparring he’s been doing with his buddy Pacquiao over the past few years.

Roach recently told the press they’ll never fight each other because he trains them both and he wouldn’t let it happen. He said Pacquiao and Khan are like sons to him and a father wouldn’t let his sons fight each other, at least not in the ring in a professional fight. Roach added that he wouldn’t know whose corner he would work in. He said he’s been with Pacquiao for 10 years and Khan for three and he wouldn’t want to ruin the special bond they have.

Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy agreed and said it would be a tough thing to do, especially with other good opponents out there for both of them. He said Khan could fight Erik Morales, Timothy Bradley, or the winner of the Robert Guerrero vs Marcos Maidana fight. But he also might fight the likes of Lamont Peterson, who’s a fine fighter, but not a household name. He’s also beaten Maidana already and Bradley doesn’t seem interested in taking him on.

However, Khan’s been getting on Bradley’s nerves lately by shooting off his mouth about Bradley being afraid of him, which of course is a ridiculous accusation for a pro boxer. If the bad blood between Khan and Bradley continues, it could hype the fight with the public and it might take place next year, likely at welterweight as Khan is expected to move up a division. Khan could also find himself in the ring with Mayweather as that’s an attractive matchup, especially if Mayweather refuses to fight Pacquiao and he gets by Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17.

But if none of these scenarios pan out, the public will start putting the pressure on for a Pacquiao vs Khan fight. Couldn’t Roach just do the simple thing and just not work either fighter’s corner that night?

Over the years it’s become increasingly apparent that some boxers just know when they’re in over their heads and look for the easy way out during fights. Most boxing fans have seen it. Guys have small cuts over their eyes that might drip blood every five minutes, but they tell the ring doctor they can’t see. The result is the fight is stopped.

We also see others who get hit with low blows or rabbit punches, but don’t want to continue because they realize they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. The fight is stopped and the boxer has an excuse or reason for copping out. In fact, just the other week we saw British heavyweight David Haye drop to the canvas every time Wladimir Klitschko laid his glove on Haye’s neck. He must have hit the canvas at least half a dozen times. Klitschko was warned about it and even had a point deducted in round seven.

Haye figured this might be an ideal tactic to use to get Klitschko disqualified or at least have another point deducted from him. However, the referee Genaro Rodriguez caught on and when Haye fell to the canvas again in round 11 he rightly started counting and called it a knockdown. Needless to say, Haye stayed upright for the rest of the fight.

The latest controversy took place in Las Vegas during the Amir Khan (26-1, 18 Kos) vs Zab Judah (41-7, 28 KOs) fight on July 23. The 24-year-old Khan was in control of the fight and busting up Judah’s face when he suddenly nailed him with a shot to the belt line in the fifth round. It wasn’t above the belt, it wasn’t below the belt, it was right on the belt. In technical terms, it was a legal blow.

However, the 33-year-old Judah went down to the canvas pointing to a low blow. The referee didn’t see it that way and began to count. Judah didn’t get up before 10, and of course when he did get up he was arguing that he was hit with a low blow and ready to continue. It looked like Judah was either trying to get Khan disqualified or have a point deducted or he was looking for a way out of the fight. Either way, it was over at the 2:47 mark of the round.

Boxers don’t like to be seen as quitters in the ring and that’s why some of them take the first chance they get and try to have the fight halted without them being to blame. It wasn’t a surprise that Judah claimed a low blow as earlier in the fight he clawed at his eye after a head butt. It was possibly a sign of things to come as it seemed like an overreaction.

After the fight Judah claimed he was hit in the testicles. But if he was, then they must be hanging below his belly button. If you want to see a real low blow, check out the Andrew Golota vs Riddick Bowe contests of years ago. It was a major disappointment for fans who were looking for an exciting Jr. Welterweight unification bout.

Khan fans must have been ecstatic as he looked like a world beater, but neutrals weren’t too thrilled with the outcome in what had the potential to be a good fight. At least it was looking that way until the bell rang to start it.

The problem is, most of these incidents are taking place in big fights with millions of fans watching and a lot of media coverage. Something needs to be instilled into boxers that if they feign injuries in the ring, then they’re not any better than pro soccer players.

Amir Khan’s (25-1, 17Kos) a good boxer. There’s no argument about that. But it’s debatable if he’s a great one. Many people still have visions of him lying on the canvas after just 54 seconds when Breidis Prescott knocked the 24-year-old Englishman out back in 2008.

Granted, Khan’s unbeaten in seven fights since then and added the WBA Jr. Welterweight Title to his resume in with a unanimous decision over Andriy Kotelnik. He’s also beaten some good fighters in Marco Antonio Barrera, Dmitriy Salita, Paulie Malignaggi, and Marcos Maidana.

He’s now being trained by the one and only Freddie Roach and spends a lot of his time training with Manny Pacquiao. But for some reason he took a step backwards on April 16^th when he took on the little-known Paul McCloskey back in Manchester, England. McCloskey isn’t a name fighter in America and he’s not even a name fighter in his native Northern Ireland.

But he somehow got a match with Khan and the two of them sold out the MEN Arena where Khan beat him by a technical decision after the fight was stopped in the sixth round sue to an accidental head butt. The doctor checked McCloskey’s eye out and called the bout off. Not surprisingly, Khan was ahead 60-54 on all three scorecards.

For another strange reason, the fight was scheduled to be shown on pay TV by the Sky network in Britain while HBO showed a delayed broadcast of it in America. Nobody’s sure why it was on pay TV in the first place as McCloskey’s not known anywhere other than his own household. But after it was revealed sales were basically non-existent, Sky came to its senses and took the bout off of pay TV and placed it on one of its regular channels.

Khan didn’t like this though and said if HBO was interested in showing the fight to Americans then his British fans should have to ante up and pay to see him. It was reported that he’d make about 1.5 million British pounds for the scrap on pay TV, but Sky then told him he’d have to accept a pay cut to about 150,000 pounds.

The network claimed the move to regular TV would be beneficial to him since he’d be able to attract a huge audience in the hundreds of thousands. However, Khan’s ego wouldn’t accept this and he ended up signing a deal with a little-known pay TV network called Primetime where the fight supposedly sold less than 10,000 views. It was also reported that McCloskey ended up earning more than Khan, something the champion vehemently denied.

It’s a fact that Khan took a huge hit in the wallet though and his ego even cost him more by refusing to fight on regular TV. He now says he’s going to do most of his fighting in America because that’s where the money is and probably won’t fight in his homeland again for quite some time, if ever.

Khan said British TV should have supported him more and again pointed to the fact that HBO showed the fight. But he’s still missing the point as the McCloskey fight should never have been a pay per view event in the first place and many people feel the fight should never have even taken place as McCloskey wasn’t a worthy opponent.

The last time Sky showed a pay per view fight, which was between heavyweight champ David Haye and Audley Harrison, the public witnessed one of the worst fights in history as Harrison threw a total of about three punches. It was so bad the British Boxing Commission investigated the bout before releasing Harrison’s purse. There’s no way fans wanted to be fleeced again by paying to watch McCloskey fight in another perceived mismatch.

Khan should take on somebody worthy in his next fight though as he’ll likely meet WBO Jr. Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley in a unification bout. After the argument with Sky TV though, it’s not clear if they’ll kiss and make up and show the boxing match in Britain.

Manny Pacquiao is not just the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world today, he’s also a massive draw with fellow pros.

But he might just lose his status as No.1 in the hearts of fellow Filipinos soon, if Nonito Donaire continues his rise to fulfill his belief that “God has a plan and I have faith in God’s plan” to see him unify the belts at bantamweight.

Donaire, the newly-crowned WBO/WBC champ, arrived in Manila yesterday morning, his flight having taken the Bohol boxer all the way from Los Angeles to the Philippines to spend three weeks observing the Pac-Man in training.

Manny, who began his high-altitude training sessions last weekend in Baguio City, has also been joined, of course, by his trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, while British light-welterweight star Amir Khan came in on the same flight.

Khan has been lined up to face Northern Irishman Paul McCloskey back in England on April 14 to defend his WBA crown, but, as he is training under Roach, will join Manny some time over the next few days.

Pacquiao began light training last week as he gets in shape for his bout with American Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on May 7. He has so far put in some morning roadwork, a few games of basketball, and a few sessions in the mitts with long-time trainer and friend Buboy Fernandez.

Also there are the Pac-Man’s frequent sparring partners, undefeated welterweight Shawn Porter, from Akron in Ohio, and David Rodela, who is also Khan’s sparring mate, as well as Filipina WBO bantamweight Ana Julaton – a recent winner against Francesca Alcanter.

However, although these coaches and boxers are there to work with or watch Manny, 28-year-old Donaire – who stopped Fernando Montiel in the second round to pick up the crowns on February 19 – is fast becoming a favorite with a nation now engrossed with their potent pugilists.

Donaire deserves the adulation, too, having become only the third Asian fighter – and second Filipino after the great man – to hold titles in three different divisions, with crowns also in flyweight and super-flyweight.

When Mexican Montiel landed a right to Donaire’s head in Las Vegas as month, the Filipino Flash responded with a devastating left he believes was “the hardest punch of my career” that left his opponent crumpled on the canvas. But Montiel somehow got back to his feet, only for Donaire to rush over and land a left then a right that resulted in referee Russell Mora stopping the bout just five minutes and 25 seconds in.

Now ranked No.3 in the world’s pound-for-pound ratings behind Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr, Donaire – $350,000 the richer after his latest victory – will return to the United States at the end of the month to prepare for his next fight, which he hopes will be a unification bout with WBA holder Anselmo Moreno, of Panama, at the Oakland Coliseum on May 28.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum is attempting to set that clash up, although no contract has yet been signed, while promoter Gary Shaw wants Moreno to face Venezuelan Lorenzo Parra ahead of Donaire.

With Donaire’s contract with Top Rank up in a few months, there has been speculation that Golden Boy Promotions will sign the in-demand Filipino. But he’s just looking to get back in the ring to face whoever manager Cameron Dunkin and Arum sign up as his next opponent.

No matter who is lined up, though, three boxing legends believe Donaire is poised to become as big a star as Manny – especially after his destruction of Montiel.

Former world champion Roy Jones Jr reckons “God had blessed this kid with wonderful talent”, while Mexican legends Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera – while commentating on the fight – said Donaire gave “an amazing performance”.

The rightly confident Donaire described himself as “a monster” after the Montiel fight. Certainly, he’s set to become a monster box office star in the world of boxing very soon.

I can’t help thinking that WBA Jr. Welterweight Champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17Kos) might be putting too much on the line too soon by fighting Paul McCloskey next month in Manchester. If you asked Paul who? don’t be embarrassed. You’ll be like most other boxing fans.

McCloskey is a 32-year-old junior welterweight from Northern Ireland, who just happens to be the undefeated European champion. He’s got a perfect 22-0 record with 12 Kos. But most of his opponents had to be fingerprinted to find out who they were. Other than Cesar Bazan of Mexico, there’s not really any recognizable international fighter on his resume.

I can understand Khan wanting to hold the fight in his home country of England, and I can understand him wanting to get back in the ring relatively soon after his war with Marcos Maidana last December, but I’m having a hard time understanding why he’s going to risk his belt against a relative unknown like McCloskey.

Khan’s a sizzling commodity right now, one of the hottest in boxing after his unanimous decision over Maidana in Vegas on HBO. He finally put it all together and what better place and way to do it to impress American boxing fans across the nation. Granted, Maidana came this close to turning Khan’s lights out near the end of the fight, but the Englishman showed what champions are made of by withstanding the onslaught. The scrap was so good U.S. boxing writers named it fight of the year.

Everybody wants a piece of him now because Khan’s made a name for himself and he’s still viewed as being beatable by many of the top contenders. The check books are coming out and huge offers have been laid on the table for the 24-year-old.

However, instead of going for a huge payday, Khan’s settled for fighting McCloskey, which will definitely slow down all of the momentum he’s built up over the last couple of years. On paper, Khan wins hands-down. This isn’t to say McCloskey’s not a good fighter and doesn’t stand a chance, because he does.

Khan was supposed to clean Breidis Prescott’s clock too back in 2008 when looking at their records, but it was Khan who was taken to the cleaners that night in just 54 seconds.  Khan’s chin still comes into question, even though it was solid against Maidana, and that’s why it’s hard to figure out why he’s going to risk his title for relative peanuts when he could be raking in the big bucks by taking on a big-name opponent.

Sure, the fight’s going to be a big draw in Britain, and I’m sure McCloskey’s going to bring a few thousand fanatics with him. The atmosphere will be electric, but other than Britain, this is seen as nothing fight against a nothing opponent. If Khan wants to fight an “easier” opponent on April 16, fans around the world would have an interest in watching him take on Prescott in a rematch because of the history between them.

If Khan happens to lose to McCloskey, he’s going to have to start all over again from square one. If he’s going to put his title and reputation on the line I just think at this point in his career he’d be better off doing it against a top opponent for buckets full of money… just in case he never gets the chance again.