In an expected move, the WBA have ordered an immediate rematch

In an unsurprising move, the World Boxing Association has ordered an immediate rematch between Lamont Peterson and Amir Khan after Khan’s team made a protest over certain irregularities on the night.

Khan lost his WBA and IBF titles to Peterson in controversial fashion last December in Washington, and today the WBA have confirmed they must fight again within 180 days, citing the fight to be “riddled with controversy as a result of a plethora of anomalies.”

“In its resolution mandating the rematch, the WBA went out of its way to note that, under normal circumstances, it would not disturb the discretionary function of a referee,” the organization said in a statement. “However, in this case, because of the multiple irregularities, it was necessary for it to order the rematch.”

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Martinez (left) and Macklin at yesterday's press conference to announce their fight

Following his close, controversial split-decision loss to WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm in Germany, England’s Matthew Macklin (28-3, 19KO’s) now has his focus on another World title shot, this time against Argentinian WBC holder Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27KO’s). The fighters came face-to-face for the first time at a good-natured press conference yesterday to announce the bout, which will take place at Madison Square Garden, New York on March 17.

“Coming face-to-face with Martinez, he comes across as a nice, humble, friendly kind of guy and you can’t read too much into it.”

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Peterson and his team have clearly had enough of Khan's complaints

Lamont Peterson’s manager Barry Hunter has hit back at claims that his fighter’s win over Amir Khan for the WBA & IBF light-welterweight titles in Washington last month was fixed. Leaving no doubt about his, and his fighters stance on the matter, Hunter slammed Khan for being a bad loser and suggested the financial clout of Golden Boy is the only reason this matter is being pursued.

The statement read: “Unfortunately, we are in this process of dealing with these unfounded protests. It would be an understatement to characterize Lamont as being disappointed in the unprofessional manner in which Khan is attempting to discredit his performance in the ring and victory. We were raised to conduct ourselves where Champions display professionalism, both in victory and defeat. Lamont previously tasted defeat and handled it the way it should be handled — he worked harder on areas that needed improvement to maximize his performance in the ring. Now, he is World Champion.

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Arum has told Pacquiao to hold out for a bigger purse despite the calls from boxing fans

To the disappointment of boxing fans everywhere, Manny Pacquiao’s financial advisor Michael Koncz has told the press that fighting Floyd Mayweather on May 5 is not going to happen because it is ”foolish from an economic standpoint”, and would require a far larger venue than the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather called Pacquiao out via his Twitter account on Tuesday, challenging the Filipino superstar to a fight on May 5, a date Mayweather has pencilled in already. Even though Pacquiao responded positively to the challenge, calling for the fight himself, it now appears as if the men behind the scenes have influenced his thinking and once again greed has scuppered the biggest fight in the sport today.

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Pacquiao and promoter Bob Arum seem to be in disagreement about a Mayweather fight

It’s the fight the whole World wants to see, and today a clash between pound-for-pound rivals Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. seems one step closer to being signed. Mayweather’s next opponent was widely rumoured to be either Robert Guerrero or Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez but today Mayweather called out Pacquiao via his Twitter account.

“Manny Pacquiao I’m calling you out let’s fight May 5th and give the world what they want to see,” he tweeted.

“My Jail Sentence was pushed back because the date was locked in. Step up Punk,” Mayweather added.

It’s a direct challenge to Pacquiao and will surprise many people who believed the fight to be dead in the water. Adding even further weight to the argument was Pacquiao himself, who told Eddie Alinea of Philboxing.com that despite promoter Bob Arum’s concerns wants his next fight to be against Mayweather.

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IBF champion Lucian Bute is undefeated in 30 fights

Canada’s undefeated IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-0, 24KO’s) and England’s former World champion Carl Froch (28-2, 20KO’s) are close to signing a deal that will see them fight twice, beginning with a bout in Bute’s adopted hometown of Montreal this spring.

Even though Andre Ward recently beat Froch and would seem the logical choice to face off with rival champion Bute, it appears that Ward’s team want nothing to do with Romanian-born Bute and have stepped aside to allow Froch to make a deal.

“We have pencilled in 14 April in Montreal and 4 August in Nottingham for the ‘home-and-away’ bouts,” said Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn.  “I don’t see why we can’t get this boxed off in the next week or so.”

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Klitschko and Chisora pose with the legendary three-wheeler van

WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko was in London today to promote his February 18 title fight in Munich with Britain’s Derreck Chisora and the theme couldn’t have been more English, as the pair posed for photographs with the famous three-wheeled Robin Reliant van from legendary British sitcom Only Fools And Horses.

‘Del Boy’ Chisora, a self-confessed superfan of the show, showed all the pluck of his cheeky cocky namesake in predicting a big win but Vitali was also in confident mood, stating he felt in the shape of his life, sending a clear warning to Chisora that despite the comedy set he was being taken very seriously indeed.

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Mustafa Ameen (far left) is here seen celebrating with Peterson post-fight

The man in the middle of the controversy surrounding Lamont Peterson’s split-decision victory over Amir Khan in Washington last month has spoken out publicly for the first time.

Khan and his team raised questions about the role of a mysterious man at ringside who they believe interfered with the scorecards, after being seen continuously speaking to Michael Welsh, the WBA supervisor at ringside, as the fight progressed.

Commenting on his Facebook page Mustafa Ameen denied any wrongdoing in a short statement.

“So you are questioning if I did something to harm my Muslim brother? May almighty Allah protect me from what you and the rest of you assert. Don’t make assumptions based on allegations,” he said.

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Mayweather's fight on May 5 has saved him from serving hard time at the County jail

Showing a defence as slippery outside of the ring as in it, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has once again managed to escape prison after a Nevada judge today postponed the five-weight champion’s imminent 90-day sentence for domestic assault until June. The postponement was made due to a fight Mayweather has in May against an as yet unnamed opponent. Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa granted the request from Mayweather’s defense attorney who requested the delay.

Mayweather was found guilty of an attack on the mother of two of his children, Josie Harris, after Mayweather discovered Harris was dating another man. Harris, 31, lives in the Los Angeles area with the couple’s two sons, now 12 and 10, and a daughter aged 8.

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2012 promises to be a big year for Nathan Cleverly

Welsh WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (23-0, 11KO’s) is on course to face off with WBC and Ring magazine king Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32KO’s) this summer in a huge unification fight at the Millennium Stadium in Wales, according to Cleverly’s father Vince.

“Hopkins is coming around to the idea,” he said. “It would sell out the Millennium Stadium. This year was brilliant and all went to plan. Let’s hope 2012 can be even better. Barring injuries Nathan will unify the division.”

46-year-old Hopkins has been ordered to fight a rematch with Chad Dawson after their controversial first fight, during which Hopkins was thrown to the floor, injuring his shoulder and rendered unable to continue. Although Hopkins has a date pencilled in for February 27 for his next fight there’s been no word on the opponent, and whether or not it will be Dawson.

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Mayweather with manager Leonard Ellerbe today in a Las Vegas court

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been given a 90 day jail sentence by a Nevada judge after pleading guilty to a charge of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and no contest on two counts of harassment. He was also handed a 100-hour community service order and a $2,500 fine. Had the case gone to trial Mayweather was facing up to 34 years in prison.

Mayweather appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom today to face the charges and was expected to plead guilty but his attorney Karen Winckler said she is considering an appeal against the prison sentence, which will commence on January 6. It’s believed part of the deal includes Mayweather pleads guilty to another charge he’s facing, this time misdemeanor battery on a security guard stemming from an incident last year.

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Amir Khan is still likely to get a rematch despite the IBF's ruling

The IBF have refused to order a rematch between newly crowned champion Lamont Peterson and former holder Amir Khan following an appeal lodged by Khan’s team. The protest was over the way referee Joseph Cooper handled the bout, deducting two points from Khan for pushing, and also a discrepancy on the scorecards prior to the decision being announced.

Today IBF chairman Lindsay Tucker confirmed that the organization would not be ordering a rematch and were satisfied that the fight at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C was officiated fairly.

“We found no discrepancies that would affect the outcome or the result of the fight,” Tucker said.

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Despite the festive atmosphere around them seasonal good will has been lost on WBA super-middleweight champion Andre Ward and WBC holder Carl Froch ahead of their clash in the final of Showtime’s Super Six on Saturday night in Atlantic City. Both fighters seem prepared and ready to prove themselves, although Froch believes the pressure is getting to Ward as the fight draws nearer.

“It’s dawning on him now,” said Froch. “As it is with me, but I can deal with the pressure. It’s dawning on him that he’s in the biggest and toughest fight of his life against somebody who’s brutally honest and brutal when I get in the ring. When I get through them ropes I’m going to be trying to knock him unconscious. That’s just how it is. I’m going to try to hit him very hard, very often.”

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Hopkins will feel a sense of redemption with the commission's decision

The Californian Athletic State Commission have ruled that Bernard Hopkins’ controversial TKO loss to Chad Dawson on October 15 in L.A will be changed to a no-decision.

Hopkins injured his shoulder when Dawson lifted and threw him to the canvas in the second round of their WBC light-heavyweight title fight at the Staples Center rendering him unable to continue. Referee Pat Russell went on to award the fight to Dawson but shortly afterwards the WBC announced that despite the loss Hopkins would retain his title, and now the C.S.A.C have officially erased the loss from his record.

The fact that the fight ended on a foul meant that, as four rounds had not been completed meaning it couldn’t go to the scorecards, should have been ruled a no-contest in the first place. Hopkins, who was understandably upset about the call, was delighted at the commission’s ruling.

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Klitschko believes Chisora clearly beat Helenius and is a worthy challenger to his crown

Despite only losing only two weeks ago in a European title challenge, England’s Derreck Chisora (15-2, 9KO’s) is to get a shot at WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (43-2, 40KO’s) in Munich on February 18, it was announced today.

Chisora was twice scheduled to face brother Wladimir only to be let down on both occasions by circumstance, so will be delighted to finally get his shot at the title, as undeserved as it may or may not be.

Klitschko, now 40 years old, says he plans to have at least two more fights next year, and wants the second to be against David Haye in July,

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