Amir Khan is now questioning the presence of a 'mysterious' man at ringside

The latest accusations from Amir Khan’s camp about a strange man at ringside who may have had some influence on the scoring of the fight highlight the lengths some people will go to to continue deluding themselves that they were not beaten by a better man. Anyone that watched Khan’s fight with Lamont Peterson that night knows, regardless of scorecard anomalies or points deductions, who deserved to win. And it wasn’t Khan.

To complain so loudly and forcefully for so long following the loss does nothing to improve it, and conversely, will eventually backfire. All of us watching this unfold are becoming more and more shocked by the desperation and delusion that accompanies it. Are we really to believe that an ‘unidentified’ man in a suit at ringside was the reason Khan lost to Lamont Peterson? Or was it more to do with a certain Washington fighter who showed Khan how to fight like a man?

Peterson has said he is already bored with these conspiracy theories, echoing a lot of our own feelings on the matter, and if Khan truly wants justice maybe he should do it the old-fashioned way, with his fists. With promoter Golden Boy’s clout in the business, a reversal of the result is an absolutely genuine possibility, but if that did happen would it really change anyone’s perspective of what happened on that night, or will we simply remember Amir Khan for being one of the worst losers in recent memory? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer’s simple.

Already there have been complaints filed over the referee and the way he handled the bout, the judges at ringside who scored the bout and a mystery man with so much power he can influence entire state commissions with the wink of an eye and the tilt of a hat. Maybe a complaint can be lodged about Peterson being allowed to use his fists too.

Lamont Peterson did all his talking with his fists

When Amir Khan took the fight in Peterson’s back yard he must have realised the judges weren’t going to do him any favours, and score the fight purely on merit. It was a risk but one he was expected to get away with. The fact that it backfired so spectacularly though is not down to any of these factors.

The harsh truth is he was beaten fair and square by a better man on the night. It didn’t matter where the ring was located, we all saw what happened inside it. Khan run away from Peterson like a scolded dog for much of the fight and was completely powerless to resist the dominant physical force of Peterson. To try to take credit away from him and blame some mysterious forces at work merely give us an insight into the mindset of a fighter like Khan. One that has been truly carried away by his own hype.

The best advice for Khan would be to stop crying over spilt milk, man up and take the rematch, soon. Peterson, to his eternal credit, has even said he is willing to travel across the country to the West Coast to accommodate Khan’s childlike demands. Unfortunately he appears to be getting no credit for the initial victory, a genuine one, which must be of continual annoyance after such a great performance.

So, a man in a suit.. it is true that he may have been practicing voodoo on Khan between rounds and giving Peterson superhuman strength to succeed. That is a cause of concern for everyone involved. I would also suggest checking him for any pins or dolls that resemble either of the combatants. Did this guy have a passport, or was he flown in by Peterson’s camp secretly from a shamanic tribe in Western Africa? Because unless he affected the way the fight went that night he could not have had much influence on the outcome.

Khan has said no fight takes ten minutes to compile the scores of, but that’s not true. At fights of this magnitude it often does, and better that it takes a while if it means we get the right result. Nobody likes to see a winner announced only for it to be altered long after everyone has gone home, and the Washington commission can accept no fault for that. Allowing a witch doctor to influence proceedings from ringside however is something they should look into.

A mysterious man in a suit. Really Amir, really?

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