By Michael Collins: IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson sees Amir Khan fighting the same way in their rematch as he did in their first fight last December. Peterson thinks Khan is beyond changing, seeing him as a forward and backwards type of fighter.
Peterson told the BBC Sport “He’ll [Khan] do what he always does, he always fights the same. He’s either straight forward or straight back. That’s the way he fights; he’s not going to change it. The way the fight went the first time, I was pretty comfortable with it. I won the fight so I really don’t want to change anything.”
I agree with Peterson. There really isn’t any reason for him to change anything with his fighting style because Khan will likely be moving straight in and straight out all fight long in their rematch on May 19th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach says Khan will be fighting in a different way in the rematch, as he specifically wants Khan to stay off the ropes and be in the center of the ring more. That was tried last time by Khan, but he couldn’t handle the heat from Peterson in the center of the ring and was forced to run backwards from the 5th round on.
What we saw in the past eight rounds was pretty much nonstop shoving, pulling down on the head and headlocks from Khan as he couldn’t hold his ground by traditional fighting. It doesn’t seem possible that Khan will be able to fight differently in the rematch without getting knocked out. Khan doesn’t appear to have the chin to stand up to Peterson. The rematch will probably go just like the first fight with Khan trying to impress the judges by throwing flurries with most of the shots missing badly. Once he starts taking hits, he’ll likely start shoving and grabbing Peterson by the head to yank him forward to lean on him. The fight could come down to whether the referee allows Khan to shove and pull down on Peterson’s head without taking points off for the fouls.