The initial bit of idiocy is something for which the blame can be shared. Amir King Khan, owner of two world title belts, defends his straps in challenger Lamont Peterson’s hometown of Washington, DC? I asked Khan’s great trainer, Coach Freddie Roach about that in a prefight feature I penned for Boxing Monthly in the UK. Roach admitted such a setup was “unusual” but promoter Bob Arum, never reluctant to fire away at Golden Boy Promotionsl, was more acidic. “It just shows you that they need some adult supervision,” Arum said. Defending your two world title belts in the opponent’s backyard was Fistic Felony Number One. That’s on the promoters, Oscar de la Hoya and Richie Rich Schaefer. The second “crime” is more attributable to Khan and his so called family management “brain trust” than it is the Golden Guys. Khan was chattering about this being his final fight at 140 pounds and how he would forge ahead to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. and maybe also Manny Pacquiao. On Saturday night, the Khan train did not go completely off the tracks but it has run into an eminently foreseaable delay. Peterson took a split decision over 12 hard fought, highly entertaining rounds. Locally chosen referee Joe Cooper took two penalty points away from the British lad.Two American judges had Peterson ahead by a single point while Nelson Vasquez of Puerto Rico somehow saw this extremely close battle, 115-110 for Khan. What fight was Uncle Nelson watching? Repeat after me, you don’t put your world champion with two world title belts in a title defense in the opponent’s bailiwick. Common sense dictates that. Suddenly, King Khan is not angling for Money Mayweather. Suddenly, King Khan is a boxing commoner again, vying for a rematch with Peterson in which the DC lad will take the financial lion’s share . Khan went into DC with two title belts and leaves with zero. I think we can all do that math. ([email protected])
