A few days back, Top Rank Boss and Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum stated flat-out that the stories in the UK newspapers claiming Pacquiao could fight Amir Khan next were “complete bulls**t.” Well, the ongoing saga on who Pac-Man may fight next just took yet another twist, as Manny himself has confirmed that yes, he IS in talks with Khan.
“My team and I are in negotiations with Amir Khan for our next fight. Further announcement coming soon,” Pacquiao wrote in his tweet.
According to a news piece in The Telegraph, the Pacquiao-Khan fight will go ahead in the UAE – if the organisers can come up with the hefty sum of $38 million. According to the piece, the purse on offer for Pac-Man to face Australia’s Jeff Horn was not agreeable to the superstar. Now, with money men coming up with what Arum recently called “insane” money, it looks as though Khan – who has a big following in the UAE – might just get his second mega-fight in a row (losing as he did to Canelo Alvarez in his last fight back in May; Khan being KO’d in the sixth round).
“The Australian deal is not going to happen now because Manny is trying to get a fight done in the United Arab Emirates,” Arum told ESPN.com. “The people there favour him fighting Amir Khan. Whether it will happen or not I just don’t know because they have to come up with a large amount of money. I have some reservations whether it will happen or not. If the money comes up I will aid and abet the fight happening.”
The date being talked about for the fight is May 20, but this is one of the reasons Arum has doubts the fight will happen; as the senate in the Philippines is in session then, meaning of course that Pacquiao would be far too busy to be able to juggle both training and political duties. Still, money talks and with a whopping $38 mil on the table (possibly) maybe Pac-Man will be enticed to attempt to double his efforts.
But if the welterweight fight does take place, what can we expect? Shouldn’t Khan have opted to take a tune-up fight before going in with the southpaw dynamo? Or will Khan catch the 38 year-old all time great at just the right time?
