By Chris Robinson
Former champion Amir Khan had his trajectory as a fighter changed dramatically last night when he was upset by hometown favorite Lamont Peterson at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C.
Suffering a hotly-contested split-decision loss that saw him drop his WBA and IBF junior welterweight titles, Khan now has his sights set on a rematch with Peterson as opposed to his initial plans of moving up to the welterweight class in early 2012. And while rumors are circulating about a March 31st date for Khan-Peterson II, people in the industry are still musing on his recent setback.
Watching the fight from his Las Vegas bases, trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. took in last night’s action and feels that the right man was awarded the decision. And while Khan had been calling for a clash with Mayweather’s son Floyd Jr., that issue wasn’t discussed at all during our conversation, as the outspoken coach had other topics floating through his head.
Floyd Sr. had much to say, from offering criticism towards Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach, his opinion on how the rematch with Peterson could play out, his recollection of Khan approaching him for a training gig a few years back, and how he compares Khan to one of his former pupils who he worked with for a two-fight span in Ricky Hatton.
This is what the always-animated Mayweather had to say…
Thoughts on Amir Khan’s upset loss to Lamont Peterson…
“I saw the fight. I thought the fight was the right call. I thought that [Peterson] was hitting to the body a whole lot and he hit him with some good, solid shots. [Peterson] was just a better fighter than him, I just think he should use the jab more. Peterson should use his jab a lot more. He walks in without jabbing and that’s no good. But overall I think the right man won.”
Why Freddie Roach is the main problem in Khan’s corner…
“I don’t want to say too much about those people, but I think that’s definitely the problem I think. Because there aint no way in hell that I would have had Amir Khan fighting like that. Amir Khan was all over the place, throwing crazy, wild-ass punches and I’ve done seen some women fight way better than that. Laila Ali fights better than that, sh!t. He was all over, he was throwing punches from across the street and he’s an awkward guy but he can fight better than that. All I can say is he needs some more work, a lot of work matter of fact.”
Being approached by Amir Khan before the fighter’s union with Freddie Roach…
“Amir Khan came to check me out before he checked Freddie Roach out. He came up to the gym with me first before he checked out Freddie Roach. Then he decided to go with Freddie Roach. Hey, that’s on them.”
Making sure the fighters can fight…
“My thing is, I will work with anybody who I can make money, that’s my thing. But in the process of me getting money I want to make sure the fighters can fight. I want to make sure I put time in with them, ya know? I’m going to be honest with you, not that I wouldn’t train him, but I never said anything else about training him. They came to me, I didn’t go to them.”
Thoughts on a Khan-Peterson rematch…
“Let me tell you something, Amir Khan is going to get whooped again, because the way he fights, as crazy as he fights man, he gonna get whooped again, believe me. Peterson will beat him easier if he uses the jab more.”
No qualms with referee Joe Cooper, who deducted two points from Khan for shoving…
“Then you got this guy here, Amir Khan, I don’t know why he thinks he won the fight. I’m going to tell you this right here. They were trying to say the guy was doing some hometown stuff, the referee. But the referee, I thought, had warned him. The referee already told him and Amir Khan didn’t do that. So that’s why the referee ended up taking points from him. It’s obvious, because I heard the referee tell him. The referee didn’t do nothing wrong. Amir Khan did something wrong. He kept doing what he shouldn’t have been doing.”
Whether Khan can one day match the accomplishments of another beloved British champion, Ricky Hatton…
“Hell no! No way man. I’m telling you. I’m just saying that he’s not going to take that spot, believe me. First of all, when Amir Khan came over here, when I practiced with him, he didn’t have anything together. I’m just going to tell you the truth. He didn’t have nothing together like Ricky Hatton. I didn’t have to just take Ricky Hatton and just make Ricky Hatton all over again. Ricky Hatton already had some things he could do. Amir Khan? I didn’t see nothing he could do.”
Not impressed by Freddie Roach…
“If anybody call anybody who train [Khan] a good trainer, and he got five trophies throughout the year, all he needs to do is simple; put us both in the gym and let us train a fighter and you will see. It’s simple. If you have both of us train a fighter, you know damn well I’m a better trainer, hands down, by far.”
Relating to Freddie Roach’s Parkinson’s disease because of his own personal sickness, sarcoidosis…
“Even though they’ve give him those things man, it’s no good to award somebody because they have a sickness. I have a sickness my damn self. I got sarcoidosis. That’s a bad disease. People have died from that. I’m just saying, I’m pretty sure that people have died down the line from that, I’m just saying I got a sickness myself but I work through it. He’s working through it. If you strong enough to hold pads and stuff like that, you commend him on what he’s doing but he aint doing nothing different than me. Our sickness might be different but a sickness is a bad sickness. And I’ve had my sickness for eleven years.”