LONDON - British boxer Amir Khan is too one-dimensional to change his gameplan for the May re-match against Lamont Peterson in Las Vegas, the American fighter said Thursday. The 25-year-old Englishman will face Peterson on May 19 in Las Vegas for the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association light-welterweight titles after losing them in controversial manner to the American last December in Washington.
Once a homeless youth on the streets of Washington, Peterson completed a fairytale with a split decision triumph over Khan marred by referee Joe Cooper taking a point from Khan in both the seventh and 12th rounds for pushing. Peterson, 28, won 113-112 on two judges' scorecards while the other had Khan a 115-110 winner. Without the deductions, Khan would have kept the titles. But Peterson told the BBC: "He'll 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."
Peterson added: "He's still out there saying he's the champ, but he's not. He's all over the place. Really, I don't know what to make of him."
Veteran official Joe Cortez, who has a reputation for preventing inside fighting, is widely expected to take charge of the rematch, BBC reported, something that might affect Peterson's punching ability at close-quarters.
"His strategy (in the first fight) was to hit and move and I didn't allow him to do it. It won't be any different this time. He'll hit and move and I'll stay close and smother him," the 28-year-old Peterson said.
"If the ref knows the difference between a foul and a push, then I'll be okay with that. But if he doesn't know the difference between a push and an elbow, I'll have a problem with that.
"The referee we had (Cooper) allowed me to fight out of clinches, and I liked that, that tends to favour my style.
"If he calls break every time we get on the inside, then I'll have to change my strategy and do something different, anything I need to do to win the fight. "The referee will be key but I'm not worried about it either way, I'll win the fight, I'll do what I have to do."