( CNN ) -- Britain 's Amir Khan has lost his International Boxing Federation ( IBF ) and World Boxing Association ( WBA ) world light-welterweight titles after a controversial split points decision defeat to American Lamont Peterson in their showdown at the Washington Convention Center . Khan was given the fight 115-110 on one of the judge 's scorecards . However , the other two judges awarded local fighter Peterson the decision by scores of 113-112 , enough for Khan to lose his belts . The result proved contentious with referee Joe Cooper twice deducting Khan a point for pushing , in the seventh and 12th rounds , decisions that ultimately turned the fight in Peterson 's favor . A stunned Khan was clearly frustrated with the decision , saying in his post-fight interview : `` It was like I was fighting two people in the ring , the referee and Lamont . `` I can see why there has n't been a big fight in Washington in the last 20 years , because of decisions like this , '' added 25-year-old Khan -- who suffered only his second defeat from 28 professional bouts . Meanwhile , Peterson , who improved to 30-1-1 after his win , said : `` A lot of people thought I was the underdog but I followed my game plan the entire time and it worked . `` It was a long road but all the hard work paid off for me and it could n't have been a better night . '' Khan dominated the early stages of the fight , knocking down the challenger with a fierce right hand with just 28 seconds remaining of the opening round . However , the fight began to harder to call as it progressed , and the moment when Khan was deducted a point for repeated pushing with his left forearm in round seven proved pivotal . `` Every time I tried to keep him away from me he kept coming in low , '' Khan continued . `` I was the cleaner fighter . He was either going to head butt me or push me all night and the referee was n't giving me a chance . ''
Lamont Peterson becomes the new world light-welterweight champion in Washington . Local favorite Peterson defeats British champion Amir Khan on a split points decision . It proves a controversial decision , after Khan was deducted two points for pushing .