London: Lamont Peterson says Amir Khan is incapable of altering his game-plan for their May rematch and that his British rival is mentally “all over the place”.
Lamont Peterson believes British Pakistani professional boxer Amir Khan has no chance of regaining his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles, and has predicted another defeat could prompt a downward spiral for the Brit.
Peterson beat Khan on a controversial split decision in December but, ahead of their May rematch, the American has accused his rival of being one-dimensional and incapable of altering his game plan.
“He’ll do what he always does, he always fights the same,” Peterson told BBC Sport. “He’s either straight forward or straight back. That’s the way he fights, he’s not going to change it.
“The way the fight went the first time, I was pretty comfortable with it. I won the fight so I really don’t want to change anything. His strategy [in the first fight] was to hit and move and I didn’t allow him to do it. It won’t be any different this time. He’ll hit and move and I’ll stay close and smother him.”
While Peterson admits the choice of referee could prove decisive, he remains confident of victory, claiming Khan is mentally “all over the place”.
“The referee will be key but I’m not worried about it either way, I’ll win the fight, I’ll do what I have to do,” Peterson said. “I’ll be relaxed like I always am in the ring, but he’s putting a lot of pressure on himself, saying he won the last fight, saying he’s going to change this and that for the next fight.
“He’s still out there saying he’s the champ, but he’s not. He’s all over the place. Really, I don’t know what to make of him. If he fights on after he loses to me, he’s going to lose to average fighters, not just world champions. People need to see what you can do, not just hear what you can do.”
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