Amir Khan confident of winning appeal against referee

British light-welterweight boxer Amir Khan is confident he will win an appeal against the referee's decision after his defeat to Lamont Peterson.

The 25-year-old claims US boxer Lamont was favoured by the ref because the fight, was on his home turf in Washington DC.

"Numerous times I got head-butted and he (the referee) saw it, but didn't do anything about it," Amir said.

The boxer has also requested a rematch against Peterson.

At the bout, last Saturday (10 December), Amir Khan was docked a point on two separate occasions by referee Joseph Cooper for pushing.

"The referee didn't follow the rules. If he had followed the rule book then points would not of been taken off," Amir said.

The outcome, resulted in the Bolton born boxer losing his IBF and WBA titles.

The two-time world champion has also said whatever happens with the appeal, he still wants a rematch on neutral ground, "somewhere like Vegas".

"I want it to be somewhere with neutral judging and refereeing. All we want is fair fights -that is what boxing wants, because when fights don't happen fairly, it puts the whole thing on a downer and is bad for the sport."

Amir Khan also criticised some of the former British boxers who are now sports pundits, who were at the bout: "Some of them they are so two-faced, we need to support our own fighters especially if we are going to the US. The Americans all support each other, that is why they achieve so much."

A response from the International Boxing Federation is expected in the next seven days to see if the referee's decision is going to be overturned.