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?

Dirrell looked as if he'd never been away with an easy win over Cunningham

Although neither had fought for around two years Andre Dirrell and Jermain Taylor looked at very different stages of their comebacks last night at the Marongo Casino in Cabazon, California, despite both men scoring relatively comfortable victories.

Super-middleweight Dirrell (20-1, 14KO’s), with perhaps the tougher test on paper, took no time at all stopping fellow Michigan fighter Darryl Cunningham (24-3, 10KO’s), dropping the 37 year-old twice en route to a second round TKO.

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.”

This Friday night sees two fighters coming back from long breaks as former Super Six contenders Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell co-headline a card at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California to be aired live on Showtime. Taylor, not having fought for more than two years, wins the prize for longest inactivity but Dirrell himself hasn’t stepped between the ropes for 21 months so both will be hoping for a smooth transition back into the sport. Luckily for them opponents Jessie Nicklow and Darryl Cunningham appear hand-picked for the occasion.

Dirrell (19-1, 13KO’s) has the tougher test of the two, and that’s to be expected. Although a head injury has kept him out of the ring after suffering a concussion when taking an illegal blow in his winning fight with Arthur Abraham in March 2010, big things are still expected of the Flint, Michigan fighter.

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.