Khan vows to fix flaws in rematch vs. Peterson

Now that all the talking is over, it's time for Amir Khan to get to work.

The former junior welterweight champion from Bolton, England, gets the opportunity to regain the WBA and IBF belts Lamont Peterson took from him in December when they meet May 19 at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Khan, who lost a controversial 12-round decision in Peterson's hometown of Washington, D.C., said he needs to fight a smarter fight this time if he wants to get back to the top.

"I know I made mistakes, so we're going back to the drawing board to fix them," Khan told reporters in Los Angeles last week at the final news conference of their three-city promotional tour.

"I'll be a different fighter in this fight because I'm hungrier and more focused than ever. Sometimes when things don't go your way, it makes you work harder.

"I want those titles back, and that is the reason I wanted this rematch."

Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame trainer who works with Khan (26-2, 18 knockouts), said his fighter will be better prepared for Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs). They're headed to the Philippines this week to train with Manny Pacquiao, who puts his WBO welterweight title on the line June 9 against Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden.

"We had a great fight last time," Roach said. "This time, we are going to make some new moves. We will make small adjustments with Khan, but they will make a big difference.

"(Training with Pacquiao) helps him prepare mentally, because if he can do it with Pacquiao, then he can with Lamont Peterson."

■ MGM CLOSED CIRCUIT -- With a sellout anticipated May 5 at the MGM Grand Garden, tickets for the closed-circuit telecast of the WBA junior middleweight title fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto are on sale.

Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo, The Mirage and Circus Circus will show the card from the Grand Garden, which will include the Canelo Alvarez-Shane Mosley WBC junior middleweight title fight. Tickets are $75 plus applicable fees, and all seats are general admission. Tickets can be purchased at the box office of each property or by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711.

■ ON THE RUN -- Victor Ortiz participated in last week's Los Angeles Marathon and finished in a respectable 3 hours, 27 minutes, finishing in the top third of the estimated 30,000 runners.

Ortiz, who will face Andre Berto on June 23 in Los Angeles on Showtime, said it wasn't the usual boring training run.

"It was such great fun running with all these world-class marathoners," he said. "I know that run made me better than ever.

"In many ways, it couldn't be any more different than boxing. I mean, nobody is punching you in the nose, the gut, the kidneys, on the chin and up the side of your head. But in other ways, doing this very much relates to boxing. Conditioning the lungs, the legs and building endurance. That's why all fighters do road work. But 26-plus miles is something else."

■ HBO TALK SHOW -- Jim Lampley, HBO's longtime blow-by-blow boxing announcer, will host a talk show, "The Fight Game," on the cable network beginning May 12.

The 30-minute show, to air at midnight locally, will include interviews with boxing personalities, tackle issues impacting the sport and appear periodically.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.