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Lamont Peterson and manager/trainer Barry Hunter have released an official Team Peterson statement on the decision by Amir Khan's team yesterday to drop their appeal with the IBF, which was scheduled for today.
From Hunter:
"We are extremely pleased that Golden Boy and Amir Khan withdrew their protest with the IBF. As we have said all along, we were not going to be forced to make a decision by one person or entity and we will continue to do what is in the best interest of Lamont Peterson.
"The Peterson team continuously responded to each of Khan's accusations and the absurdity of the claims. Our reply addressed the rules and also Khan's inability to make adjustments and his performance in the ring, as opposed to placing blame on almost everyone associated with the bout.
"We have an open mind and look forward to Lamont's first title defense. We will discuss internally and assess every viable opportunity available. We will then make the best decision possible for the future of Lamont and his family."
Not directly addressed is the fact that the WBA has ordered an immediate rematch, but Peterson does say that he wants to defend both of the title belts he won on December 10:
"I want to take this opportunity to thank the fans for all the positive things that I've read over the internet and messages received via twitter @kingpete26. I truly did not know how much support I had all over the world.
"Now that this is over I am ready to move on. As I said before, as champion I plan on representing both sanctioning bodies to the best of ability and that means fighting the best fighters in the world in defending my titles."
Golden Boy's latest stance on the matter is that they're ready to negotiate a rematch with a 50-50 split of all worldwide revenues between Khan and Peterson, saying that they hope to make the fight happen even without the IBF throwing their hat into the ring and ordering the rematch. It may wind up the most logical fight for both men, but Peterson does have options out there, and good ones -- at least so long as he's willing to just drop the WBA belt.