Newly-crowned IBF/WBA junior welterweight beltholder Lamont Peterson says he doesn’t know the “Mystery Man” whose ringside presence has sparked controversy surrounding last month’s victory by Peterson over Amir Khan.
“We don’t even know the guy,” said Peterson’s publicist Andre Johnson. “The gentleman that they’re speaking of has no direct affiliation with us.”
WBA President Gilberto Mendoza has called for an immediate rematch between Peterson and Khan after having studied images of the unidentified man accused by Khan of interfering with the judges during his clash with Peterson on Dec. 10.
In the video, which can be viewed by clicking here, the man can be spotted wearing a blue hat as he appears to be distracting WBA supervisor Michael Welsh and other officials at ringside during the fight.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer, who handles Khan, said that the man claimed to be an IBF official, adding that he saw the indivfidual “in the ring after the fight celebrating with the Petersons.”
“To speak to the issue of the guy congratulating Lamont in the ring, well, there were plenty of people congratulating Lamont in the ring,” said Johnson. “I mean, people stormed the ring after the fight was over. So if that’s the case, you know, then I guess that everybody was on our side. But to us, it’s really a non-issue.”
A source informed RingTV.com that the man is Mustafa Ameen, who once served as the business manager of former Olympic heavyweight hopeful Michael Hunter.
Citing poor officiating and scorecard descrepancies among his reasoning, Khan has appealed to the IBF and the WBA to overturn Peterson’s victory or else to order an immediate rematch. It is primarily due to the man’s behavior at ringside — caught on video — that Mendoza has called for a the return bout.
“This will be my personal opinion, but that would be the right decision at the moment,” Mendoza told Sky Sports in England concerning a potential for a rematch. “There were a lot of things that make this fight controversial.”
