Team Peterson Blame Rematch Clause For Khan Fallout

By Lem Satterfield

A few days ago, the management of Lamont Peterson believed there was serious progress being made in their negotiations to fight Amir Khan for the WBA junior welterweight title on April 16 at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England. But, on Saturday it was announced that a deal had been finalized for Khan to defend the title against undefeated European champion Paul McCloskey.

According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer, Peterson was offered a final figure of $300,000 to face Khan, but that he and manager/trainer Barry Hunter demanded "north" of that figure."

"There's no reason to get all nasty about it. The fact is that they had a chance to do the fight for a world championship against Amir Khan. But they over-priced themselves and everybody on their side is going to have to live with their decision," said Schaefer.

"Initially $150,000 was offered to Peterson, and that amount was raised to $200,000, and then, to $300.000. But they would not take it for less than north of $350,000, and that was really the issue. So we have to move on, and there is no reason to be nasty or hostile or spreading false stories. There's no reason for that. Everybody should be professional and move on and live with their decision."

Washington-based attorney, Jeff Fried, who represented Peterson and Hunter in the negotiations, paints a different picture. He claims the terms were agreed to for an initial bout with Khan, but that he believed that the negotiations failed over the notion of a rematch in the event that Khan lost.

"There were very serious discussions regarding Lamont fighting Amir Khan, and it seemed like a material holdup from their end was the rematch. We were still close on the first fight. But the first fight, I don't think was the difference-maker," said Fried.

"The difference-maker is that they wanted someone to come in very low on the rematch, which made Barry and Lamont wonder how much confidence they have in Amir's capabilities. They were as focused on getting the rematch bout commercial terms all in place as much as the first fight. There was a lot of emphasis on the rematch bout and making sure that that was all signed, sealed and delivered."

But Schaefer countered Fried's assertion.

"We spoke about the rematch for, I don't know, three minutes? So that wasn't really to the point because we still had not agreed to the amount on the first fight. You know, Khan's people felt that $350,000 was excessive, and, to tell you the truth, I agree with them," said Schaefer.

"So they just went and they decided to fight Paul McCloskey. I think that if you get the chance to fight for a world championship, and you get offered $300,000, then you take it. That's my feeling. But this was up to Lamont and up to Barry Hunter. I respect the decision, but I don't agree with it. But everybody moves on."

Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here .