Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson: An American Robbery

Going into last night’s fight, nobody gave Lamont Peterson much of a shot against Amir Khan.  In the end, Peterson gave it his all and made it a close fight but he didn’t deserve the ridiculous split-decision victory he received.

Amir Khan dominated the first two rounds of this fight.  He knocked down Peterson twice in the first round, but only one was ruled a legit knockdown.

It was apparent early on that Khan’s speed was problematic for Peterson.  Peterson spent too much time waiting on his punches and was getting picked apart by Khan.

Peterson came alive in the third.  He focused his punches to Khan’s body and started to throw punches in bunches.  After this point in the fight, it came down to Khan’s speed vs. Peterson’s bodywork—and the judge’s unfair influence on the scorecard.

Rounds four, five, and six were all close, but Khan should have won the majority of those rounds.  The turning point came in round seven.

Peterson won round seven, which should have resulted in a 10-9 score but referee Joseph Cooper called time within the closing seconds of the round to deduct a point from Khan for pushing.

Khan was pushing, but should never have lost a point.  It is illegal to push, but to take a point away in a close fight for something so menial is criminal. This single point could have easily given the entire fight to Peterson. The fighters should decide the outcome of a fight, not the referee’s stupidity and bias.

Referee Joseph Cooper’s favoritism continued to play a role throughout the end of this fight.

Cooper failed to notice a low blow landed by Peterson in the eighth round, and offered minimal warnings to Peterson for leading with his head. 

Khan’s pushing was no more egregious than Peterson’s use of his head.  To be honest, no points should have been deducted in this entire fight. 

If it wasn’t already obvious that Peterson was receiving some “home cooking,” it became disgustingly evident in the 12th round. 

The 12th round in a close fight is when two boxers are supposed to leave everything in the ring and battle for victory—not when a referee unfairly decides the outcome of a fight.

With 1:51 left in the final round, and in the midst of good back-and-forth action, Joseph Cooper again called time to deduct another point from Khan for pushing.  This was one of the worst point deductions in boxing history.

Referee Joseph Cooper’s two horrible point deductions made it possible for Lamont Peterson to win a very close split-decision.  Judges George Hill and Valerie Dorsett scored the bout 113-112 for Peterson, while Nelson Vasquez scored it 115-110 for Khan. 

I can’t fault the judges’ scoring but I can blame Joseph Cooper for making poor deductions in a close fight. Khan came to the U.S. to defend his title and got robbed by Joseph Cooper in the process.

In order to take a champ’s belt the challenger usually has to decisively win the fight.  Peterson put up a great effort, but didn’t deserve this victory.  He was the benefactor of a clearly biased American robbery on the part of Joseph Cooper.