by James Slater – In news that has been broken by Dan Rafael over at ESPN.com, there is a fair chance WBA light-welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik will not now be defending against Amir Khan on the originally scheduled date of June 27th. According to ESPN.com’s sources, Kotelnik – who has not yet officially been ruled out of the fight – is suffering from a tooth infection, and this could keep him from being able to spar until July and also delay the fight for approx six weeks..
Word is, if Kotelnik is unavailable for The O2 show on June 27th, a replacement titleholder may be brought in to face Khan – with interim WBO light-welterweight champion Lamont Peterson being a fighter promoter Frank Warren has contacted Top Rank to see if he would be available.
Reportedly, WBO president Francisco Valcarcel was asked by Warren if the WBO would approve a fight between Khan and Peterson, and the president said it would. However, so far neither Peterson nor any other title holder has agreed to take the short notice fight.
Trainer Freddie Roach, who, of course, handles Khan now, said he would let his fighter go in with Peterson. Roach, due to fly into London later on today to join Khan, did also say he feels there is a good chance the Kotelnik fight WILL be called off for June.
“I talked to Amir’s father and they think the fight is probably going to be postponed,” Roach told ESPN.
This is yet more bad news for a British fighter. We’ve had heavyweight contender David Haye see his big chance to rule the world go south due to an injury, suffered by Haye himself. And now it looks like Khan will have to wait a while before getting his chance to rule the WBA world at 140-pounds.
Warren is likely working very hard right now to keep the big June 27th show from falling apart, and in truth, the talented and unbeaten Peterson is no bad replacement for Kotelnik – if he is available, that is.
On paper, a very close fight, Khan-Peterson could prove to be a very risky fight for Khan. What if he were to lose? Would his shot at the WBA 140-pound belt then be ruined?
There are a lot of questions at present, and only time will answer them. Let’s hope Warren can do his stuff and be successful in saving the June show.