It?s been a whirlwind week thus far for former junior welterweight champion Amir Khan. The Bolton, Lancashire fighter had been training in Los Angeles, California for a scheduled May 19th rematch with Lamont Peterson, a fight that was set to take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Those plans would change dramatically when news broke on Monday that Peterson, who defeated Khan via a hotly-contested split-decision last December in his native Washington, D.C., had tested positive for synthetic testosterone in the form of testosterone pellets that were surgically implanted.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Khan-Peterson rematch had been officially cancelled, as Peterson sees his reputation now at stake while Khan is now eyeing a return to the ring on June 30th against a new opponent to be determined.
Reporter Elie Seckbach with ESNewsReporting.com caught up with Amir on Wednesday just outside of the Wild Card Boxing Club and gathered his thoughts on the whole ordeal.
Read below for Khan?s thoughts on the Peterson fallout, his reflections from the first fight with Peterson, why he falls Lamont should be banned from the sport, what he is going to do next, and why he is giving acknowledgement to Floyd Mayweather Jr. for his part in trying to bring random-drug testing into the sport.
This is what Khan had to share?
Lamont Peterson letting everyone down? ?More than anything I was so upset, because I trained so hard for the last ten weeks. I even started training camp early and worked on new things. Worked on new conditioning, my nutrition, and everything. Being ten days away from the fight, I got a phone call saying he failed the drug test. He failed about four weeks out of the fight, so if they had told us a little bit earlier, maybe we could have gotten a replacement. But it shows I?m a clean fighter and I?ve always been a clean fighter. They randomly tested us and that?s when he tested positive. I just feel so bad for the fans who were going to travel, those fans who spent so much money traveling to America, to Vegas, from the UK. And the American fans as well. I can only apologize and what we want is boxing to be a clean sport. Lamont Peterson not only let his fans down, he?s let America down, he?s let Washington D.C. down.?
More disappointed than anyone? ?Kobe Bryant came over to me and also Andrew Bynum, and they said they were looking forward to my next fight. By that time, the news kind of came out that the fight was off and said to them that the fight was off because Lamont Peterson failed a drug test. I?m more disappointed than anyone because I really did train hard for this fight. I was in the Philippines, I was over there for six weeks. I went away from my family, away from my friends.
Thanking Floyd Mayweather? ?I?ve been in the Olympic Games and I?ve been tested from day one. Lamont Peterson, he?s the one who?s said he wanted this testing and look, he?s the one who was positive. Plus, I want to thank Floyd Mayweather. Because I think Floyd is the one who?s got this VADA commission and everyone involved. I really think boxing should be a clean sport and we all should be doing this testing stuff. Like I said, we?re just cleaning up the sport. It?s not fair.?
Remembering his battle with Peterson last December? ?When I was up in the ring fighting Lamont Peterson, he did admit that substance, which is testosterone, for the first fight. You could see in the first fight, the pressure he was putting on me. I was hitting him with so many clean shots and anyone else like Maidana or Zab Judah, all those guys were going down. He was the only guy who kept coming forward. Still, after him being hurt, he was recovering so quick. That?s unfair, because he himself, he could have got hurt a lot because he took a lot of punishment and he has to look after his own health. Plus, he could have scarred me for life. This is something dangerous I think. If it was up to me, people like him shouldn?t be allowed in the sport.?
An ambition to face Mayweather? ?I want to be the best one there. My ambition is wanting to fight Floyd Mayweather and I know I have the strategy to beat him. I know I have the confidence, I have the skills, the speed, the power, and I know I?ll bring something else to the table. I know he says forty-three have tried and failed. He never fought an Amir Khan before. Someone who?s hungry. Most of these guys who he?s fighting, they go into the fight beaten. I?ll never go into the fight beaten. I?ll go into the fight confident.?
Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah bouncing back with big wins after their losses to Khan? ?I?m fighting guys at their prime, when they?re at their best, and I make them look ordinary. Maybe that?s why people don?t give me the credit, because when I beat Paulie and I beat Zab, they said they were finished, washed up. But because I beat them in such a fashion they probably think they were old but then they come back and win world titles and they are up there again.?
Back to the drawing board? ?Overall, there?s no fight now on May 19th. I?m just going to take a couple of weeks off, rest, get back in the gym again, because I really do want to fight. Then sit down at the drawing board and let?s see who?s out there to face. We don?t know where yet and we don?t know who against. I?m going to go see Golden Boy in a couple of days. Sit down with them, see what they say, see who they come up with, see who will take on the fight, and this could be my last fight at 140 pounds because I?m thinking of moving up to the next weight category and going after new challenges.?
God helped me? ?All the stuff I had to put together, like the judging and there was a guy there who shouldn?t have been there, sitting ringside, handling scorecards, and then Michael Walsh all of a sudden vanished. He wouldn?t talk. He also sat with the guy and he was the main guy for the WBA. I?m not pointing fingers but there was something dodgy going on in that fight. Getting points taken off of me from the referee in Washington, D.C. I had everyone against me but then the truth came out. The drug test came out where he failed and in a way, God helped me. He proved that I was treated unfairly in that fight.?
Bigger and better things? ?I want to move on to bigger and better things and I really think Lamont Peterson should be banned from the sport of boxing and he?s a danger to the sport.?
