No Khan-Barrera re-match

Amir Khan will not be forced to take a re-match with Marco Antonio Barrera following his fifth round stoppage win in March.

WBO rejects King's request for fight to be declared 'no-contest'

Amir Khan will not be forced to take a re-match with Marco Antonio Barrera following his fifth round stoppage win in March. The seven-time world champion suffered a gashed head after an accidental clash of heads during the first round but fought on with blood streaming into his eyes before referee finally stepped in. Barrera's camp argued that the lightweight contest, which was a WBO title eliminator, should have been declared a no-contest with promoter Don King calling for a mandatory re-match. However, WBO rules state that a fight can only be declared a no-contest if it is stopped before the end of the fourth round. "Amir Khan will not have to give a rematch to Marco Antonio Barrera following the World Boxing Organisation's enquiry into the March 14 bout at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester," Khan's promoters said. "King requested that the fight be declared a no contest, but as the result of the contest is within the jurisdiction of the Host Commission (British Boxing Board of Control) they determined that the rules of the contest had been followed and there was no error by the referee in stopping the contest." A re-match would have been highly inconvenient to Khan, who has already moved on and is preparing to take on Andreas Kotelnik for the WBA light-welterweight title on June 27.