Khan withdraws IBF appeal in search of rematch

(Reuters) – Amir Khan has dropped his appeal  with the International Boxing Federation (IBF) as the Briton  seeks an immediate rematch to avenge his controversial defeat to  Lamont Peterson in Washington last month, his U.S. promoters  said in a statement on Tuesday.

Amir Khan

Golden Boy Promotions attributed the late withdrawal, barely  24 hours before the scheduled hearing, to the fact that “there  was only to be partial representation of fight officials  involved with the Dec. 10, 2011 bout…”.

Khan (26-2) lost two versions of his light-welterweight  world titles in Peterson’s hometown on a split decision,  although the World Boxing Association (WBA) has already ordered  a rematch.

“Golden Boy Promotions and Team Khan are pleased to have  been vindicated by the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) recent  decision to mandate an immediate rematch and still hope that Mr.  Peterson will honour earlier statements in which he asserted  that he would be happy to agree to a rematch,” a statement on  Khan’s website said (http://www.amirkhanworld.com/?p=2882).

“In that vein, Golden Boy Promotions and Team Khan would  agree to a 50-50 split of worldwide revenues derived from a  rematch (including those derived from the United Kingdom) should  Mr. Peterson agree to participate and hope that this will be  both financially and professionally satisfying to Mr. Peterson  and his team,” the statement added.

After Peterson’s (30-1-1) surprise victory, Khan’s team  initially questioned the performance of referee Joseph Cooper,  who deducted points from the Briton in the seventh and 12th  rounds for pushing.

Khan also questioned the appearance of a mystery man at  ringside with the 27-year-old’s Peterson’s camp, accusing him of  “interfering” with the scorecards belonging to the judges.