Amir Khan has claimed that Lamont Peterson has lost all respect following his positive drug test.
The Bolton fighter, reinstated as WBA light-welterweight champion yesterday, said that Peterson will be kicking himself after losing out on a £1.5m pay day.
Khan said that many are now questioning the validity of Peterson's victory over him in Washington last December after the American tested positive for synthetic testosterone.
Instead of facing Peterson in a rematch, 25-year-old will now face WBC champion Danny Garcia in a unification bout in Las Vegas tomorrow night.
"[Peterson] was making his biggest pay-day in that fight," Khan told Sky Sports News. "It was a 50-50 split and he was making something like £1.5m. It's a lot of money. He then got caught.
"He must be kicking himself because even if he'd lost the rematch, he still would have made that sum. It's a lot of money for a guy brought up off the streets. It would have changed his life.
"But look at me, I've got another fight. People kind of thought 'wait a minute, Amir really did win that fight, because Peterson was on steroids and he was a cheat'. That respect he had is totally gone. Even if he'd knocked me out in that fight and then got caught, people would not have respected him for the win. Once you take drugs, you're a cheat."
Khan was also IBF champion before his contested defeat against Peterson.
Michael Penkman
