WBA back Khan’s call for rematch

THE World Boxing Association vice-president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza believes there should be a direct rematch between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson as questions grew around the presence of a mystery man at the judging table during last month’s controversial fight.

Khan has accused the man, who the WBA say is unknown to them, of interfering with the judges’ scorecards during the fight in Washington and Mendoza thinks there should be a rerun of the light welterweight contest in the interests of “fairness”.

The DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission also say they have no idea who the man is, while the International Boxing Federation, who co-sanctioned the fight, had no official comment to make ahead of a hearing on January 18.

Mendoza said: “There should be a direct re-match of this fight. You have to guarantee fairness, you have to guarantee that no one who isn’t directly involved can sit at the table.”

A man in a black hat can be seen passing slips of paper to WBA fight supervisor Michael Welsh, and as yet no one has been able to confirm his identity.