Peterson’s trainer rails against Khan controversy

Jan

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The trainer of Lamont Peterson, Barry Hunter, has issued a statement to RingTV.com regarding the controversy surrounding the split-decision that dethroned Amir Khan as IBF/WBA junior welterweight beltholder last month.

“Khan blames everyone and everything but his performance and lack of ability to make adjustments in the ring for his loss,” states Hunter.

Hunter railed against the appeals by Golden Boy Promotions on behalf of Khan to both the IBF and the WBA to overturn Peterson’s victory or else to order an immediate rematch based in their belief that the fight was poorly officiated and that there were scorecard descrepancies.

“[Khan] claims that the ring announcer privately stated he won, then that the referee’s discretionary actions should be overruled, then a mystery man in a black hat with no association to the Peterson camp somehow affected the outcome of the bout, and also that the judges did not score the bout correctly,” states Hunter.

“Each claim is boldly false, but because Golden Boy and Khan have the financial resources to file protests and lawyers to create questionable accusations we are forced to address these issues.”

Hunter distances his camp from IBF affiliate Mustafa Ameen, who has been dubbed, the “Mystery Man,” as a result of his alledged rinside behavior, which was caught on video and seemed to include picking up a yellow scoring slip near WBA ringside scoring official Michael Welsh during the Dec. 10 fight.

Ameen is also photographed in the ring appearing to celebrate with Peterson camp members.

“Furthermore, since Khan continues to focus on a man at ringside, I want to be very clear,” states Hunter. “Mustafa Ameen is in no way, nor has he ever been affiliated or associated with anyone within Team Peterson. That includes myself, Lamont and Anthony Peterson.”

Yet it appears that primarily due to Ameen’s actions, WBA President Gilberto Mendoza has called for a return bout, which Hunter believes was not done in due process.

“If the media reports are true, the WBA President personally believes there should be a direct rematch of the fight. This was oddly stated before an official review had taken place, as well as an official response or decision from the WBA review committee had been presented regarding the various protests and our formal submission. That makes me wonder what procedures were actually followed before the WBA President made these public statements?” states Hunter.

“The Rules should be followed by everyone. Khan complains that the referee’s decisions should be overturned even though he continued to push Lamont throughout the fight. We believe the knockdown against Lamont was questionable but the rules give the referee that discretion on that call and we respect it.”