Amir Khan pursuing no-contest
Dan Rafael of ESPN reports: Golden Boy Promotions, on behalf of former unified junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan, is moving swiftly in an effort to have the result of Khan’s split-decision title loss to Lamont Peterson in December overturned to a no-contest and the belts returned to Khan in the wake of Peterson’s failed drug test.
Golden Boy attorney Arnold Joseph wrote letters on Friday to Alfred Grant, deputy commissioner of the Washington, D.C., Boxing and Wrestling Commission, asking the fight result be changed to a no-contest.More info.
If I am understanding the situation right, Lamont Peterson was prescribed slow releasing testosterone pellets by a Las Vegas physician, which is a banned substance. We now know that he does have a deficiency and the doctor is confirming everything that Peterson and his camp has said about the issue. Ok, if all that is correct, Peterson did wrong and he should have some form of punishment, but to what extreme?
Peterson is wrong for not letting the powers that be know about his situation, because it now seems as if he was trying to hide it, but what good is slow releasing testosterone pellets if you are using them to gain an advantage? If his testosterone level is half of regular people, then it sounds like he was just trying to eliminate a disadvantage, but he should have let it be known that he had this problem since it involved him taking a banned substance even if it is at a low dosage.
Only thing I see that he is wrong for is not letting it be known, but that is not grounds for taking the belts he fought hard to get. It has been said that the amount he was getting from the slow release pellets added with the deficiency he has, he doesn’t gain an advantage from them, so he won that fight fair and square, so why are they trying to take the belts back on a technicality? I understand he was wrong, but not to that extent. Amir Khan was beat for the belts and he should not be rewarded them back for this. Unfortunately this is a very political sport, but this has given me a rather bad feeling about Khan and his promotion company because if I was him, I wouldn’t want the belts like that when I know I lost fair and square. If he wants to cry about something, cry about the refereeing some more!
