Amir Khan's rematch against Lamont Peterson was awarded due to "questionable decisions" by referee Joseph Cooper, the World Boxing Association has revealed.
Cooper played a crucial role in December's original bout, deducting two points from Khan that directly contributed to the English fighter losing his WBA and IBF light-welterweight belts.
The controversial fight has been brought into the limelight again recently following footage emerging of a 'mystery man', later identified as Mustafa Ameen, talking to the judges during the fight.
A statement from the WBA said that a rematch was given because of "questionable decisions" by referee Joseph Cooper and Mustafa Ameen's "apparent intrusion into the scoring process" during the original bout.
It went on to say that there was "a plethora of anomalies including referee Joseph Cooper not counting a knockdown of Lamont Peterson and deducting two points from Amir Khan for pushing (something for which points are almost never deducted), both of which ended up having a direct impact on the outcome of the fight".
A date for the rematch has yet to be scheduled, but Kahn has already expressed his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather Jnr. if he wins.
Barney Corkhill
