Ireland's own Sheamus appeared on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last Friday. The two-time WWE champion talks about his "milk bottle tan", his former life as an IT guy and, as any good Irish person would, the weather.
Sheamus is getting used to these talk show appearances on TV, having also been on The Late Late Show when WWE toured Europe in early April.
If you didn't happen to catch the Amir Khan - Lamont Peterson Championship Match this past weekend, here is the entire thing in all of its YouTube glory:
All in all, a very enjoyable fight. Khan dominated the early going, showing his credentials as a champion as expected, with nothing of note to write home about. The fight picked up in the second half, with Peterson having to really go for it, rather than let Kahn just run around the ring, "embarrassing" Lamont as one of the commentators put it, as he had done for the first five or so rounds. It paid off in the end, and Peterson dethroned the World Champion following a two point penalty deduction on Kahn for shoving in the final round.
Photo courtesy of The Ring
Peterson's achievement cannot be understated. Upsetting the odds is nothing new to a young man who had to survive on the streets of Washington for a long time, which naturally makes for a great story. But ever since the fight ended, all of the talking points, at least on this side of the Atlantic, have been focused on Khan. And their not all flattering for the now former champion.
Naivety & Immaturity
Khan is a former two-time world champion. He is rated as one of the best technical boxers around, and seen as the best in the light-welterweight division. His career is loaded with tremendous accolades and achievements, and his record in both amateur and professional boxing is close to immaculate.
Why, oh why did Khan agree to have a title defence in Washington DC against a Washington fighter then? In most circumstances, the challenger would have to travel for a title shot, and considering the weight that Kahn carries in the boxing world at this very moment, there's no way this fight should have taken place outside of the UK, at least from a Team Khan perspective.
Firstly, there's the obvious issue of not having the home crowd support. This probably didn't bother Kahn a great deal, especially if he agreed to fight across The Pond, but perhaps it gave Peterson the lift that he needed in those last few rounds. Secondly, two of the judges were American, which doesn't help Khan from the get-go. Home town decisions occur frequently in this sport, Khan should have known that. God knows he does now,
More importantly and decisively in terms of the final scorecard, why did Khan persist in pushing and shoving whenever Peterson was holding on? While it's not the most heinous of crimes to commit inside the squared circle, it's certainly not in the spirit of the sport. After being warned by the referee at least twice about it early on, Khan should have realised two things: 1) this ref clearly won't tolerate pushing, thus maybe I should stop, and 2) keep it safe in the final round, it's probably the best strategy when defending away from home. Khan did neither: he shoved Peterson off of him with a forearm in the seventh round, receiving a point deduction for it, and was penalised, crucially, for two points in the last round for the same transgression. Those two points would have secured a successful title defence for Khan.
The Bolton native certainly didn't do his popularity any good in the aftermath of the defeat with his post-fight comments either, telling Larry Merchant that he was "fighting two people in there." The more he complained, the less the viewer sympathised with him. He then went on to say, "no wonder there have been no fights in Washington in the last twenty years", telling the world that this is what happens "when you fight in Washington DC." The crowd loudly booed his insulting comments. Khan was, to use pro-wrestling terminology, heeling it up big time.
In the press conference afterwards, when asked if he regretted fighting in DC, he responded with yet more trash talking:
"No, this is a learning curve. That's just the character I am. I'm not scaring (sic) of coming to DC and fighting him. Now let's see if he has the same balls to come and fight me in the UK. I don't think he has..."
Khan's undoubted class inside the ring is not matched outside of it. While he certainly has not reached a Floyd Mayweather level of petulance, when juxtaposed against the story of Peterson's heroic rise from the streets to the top of the light-welterweight division, Amir Khan comes out looking like a spoilt brat.
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