After his relentless chasing of the Mayweather fight left, that for all intents and purposes amounted to glorified begging, Britain’s Amir Khan may just land a mega-money fight yet, seeing as cash, rather than public image and reputation seems to be “King” to Amir.
Sure, he won’t make the money he would’ve fighting Mayweather, though he can still bank a career high payday by fighting what is ostensibly the “next best thing” in former Wild Card stablemate and Filipino superstar, Manny Pacquiao.
Speaking in Britain’s Telegraph.co.uk newspaper, Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who looks after Pacquiao, has said that a fight between the two former teammates should be easy enough to put together.
“This kid Amir Khan keeps shooting his mouth off about Manny Pacquiao. I can arrange for Khan to fight Pacquiao,” Arum said.
“Amir Khan has been begging Mayweather for a fight and now he can get a major fight. I’m not a hard guy to deal with. I’m not going to mess them around.”
Should he take the fight, then Khan, who has reportedly become upset with advisor Al Haymon in the wake of Mayweather/Berto becoming a reality, will again be ignoring the many British fans who feel he is sticking two fingers up to the country who made him, by continually refusing a blockbuster UK showdown with IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook – a stadium fight in England, equivocal to the magnitude of the two Froch/Groves fights.
Khan insists Brook must first fight a big name, something that isn’t going to be helped by the Sheffield man ending up with Argentina’s Diego Chaves in the opposite corner on October 24th as one suspects he will do.
Yes, as far as Khan’s next fight goes, Pacquiao is a superstar, but in all honesty he is no longer the fighter he once was – by a considerable measure. That’s something that was evident in hardcore boxing circles after the 4th Marquez fight and especially after May 2nd, shoulder injury or no.
When you further consider Pacquiao hasn’t secured a stoppage since his all-action 2009 clash with Miguel Cotto, (further evidence of decline some might say) it further shines a light on the questionably chinned Khan seeking out the fight.
He is still yet to face a genuine welterweight since moving up to the division after his brutal knockout loss to Danny Garcia three years ago and is seemingly also ignoring calls from Florida’s WBA (reg) welterweight champion Keith Thurman – who is also keen to get his heavy-hitting hands on the Brit and has been calling him out recently in various sections of the media.
Where any Pacquiao/Khan fight would take place is also unclear, as early rumours of a 2016 clash in Dubai were scotched by the country’s sports council, who recently confirmed they have nothing in place to stage a 2016 event – an event in which they would play a large role in commissioning.
Twitter @Undilutedpoison
