Amir Khan’s trainer says he knows the ‘mystery man’: Report
Freddie Roach says Mustafa Ameen seen at ringside during Khan-Peterson match is not an IBF official.
Boxer Amir Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach has claimed that he knows the ‘mystery man’ seen at the ringside during Khan’s match with Lamont Peterson and said that he was not an International Boxing Federation (IBF) official, a BBC Sport report said on Sunday.
Roach identified the man as Mustafa Ameen whom he had once banished from a training camp for talking to “other people’s fighters”.
Talking to BBC Sport, Roach said: “He goes to gyms and talks to other people's fighters… But he does know the boundaries because he doesn't go after my fighters - but he does talk to other people's fighters and he's been told not to a couple of times, even here in my gym.”
Richard Schaefer, chief executive of the Golden Boy company which promoted the Khan-Peterson fight had earlier claimed that Ameen was an IBF official who was given accreditation for the fight but was not directly involved in it.
But Roach denied the statements saying that Ameen was not an official and there was no need of him at the ringside. “Why he was ringside and why he was in the ring afterwards celebrating and so forth I have no idea,” he said.
Khan lost his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles after local opponent Peterson was awarded a controversial split-decision victory following their bout in Washington on December 10. The 25-year-old had questioned the performance of referee Joe Cooper and aired grievances over alleged inconsistencies with the judges’ scorecards, before turning his attention to the mystery individual at ringside.
Khan has already appealed against the defeat, but took to Twitter on Thursday to draw attention to the unidentified man’s actions during the fight.
Roach identified the man as Mustafa Ameen whom he had once banished from a training camp for talking to “other people’s fighters”.
Talking to BBC Sport, Roach said: “He goes to gyms and talks to other people's fighters… But he does know the boundaries because he doesn't go after my fighters - but he does talk to other people's fighters and he's been told not to a couple of times, even here in my gym.”
Richard Schaefer, chief executive of the Golden Boy company which promoted the Khan-Peterson fight had earlier claimed that Ameen was an IBF official who was given accreditation for the fight but was not directly involved in it.
But Roach denied the statements saying that Ameen was not an official and there was no need of him at the ringside. “Why he was ringside and why he was in the ring afterwards celebrating and so forth I have no idea,” he said.
Khan lost his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles after local opponent Peterson was awarded a controversial split-decision victory following their bout in Washington on December 10. The 25-year-old had questioned the performance of referee Joe Cooper and aired grievances over alleged inconsistencies with the judges’ scorecards, before turning his attention to the mystery individual at ringside.
Khan has already appealed against the defeat, but took to Twitter on Thursday to draw attention to the unidentified man’s actions during the fight.