by James Slater – Though it may be hard to believe, WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan was reportedly offered a fight with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. Amir’s father, Shah Khan, in talking to The Bolton News, confirmed that his son was indeed offered a late 2009 date with the Filipino sensation, only for the 22-year-old and his team to turn the offer down.
As we know, Pacquiao now faces a legitimate super-fight opponent in Miguel Cotto on November 14th, and it really is hard to fathom how a Pacquiao-Khan fight would have been received by the fans had Khan accepted it.. But, both Shah Khan and promoter Bob Arum have spoken about the big fight offer, and Arum even suggests that the two world champions – who, of course, are both trained by the same man in Freddie Roach and spar together quite often – could still clash at a later date.
Though many people will look at such a fight as an easy money affair for the lethal southpaw from General Santos City in The Philippines, money talks louder than anything, and if Arum wants the fight in, say, late 2010 or early 2011 (if Manny is still fighting) it could happen – stranger things have happened after all.
Shah Khan confirmed that his son was offered the mega-fight.
“We were offered the fight a few months ago but it is not an option at the moment,” Khan’s father said. “Maybe in a couple of years it is something we would look at but not a this stage.”
Had Khan taken the fight this year, it’s likely he would have been something like a 20-1 underdog. Wisely, Amir and his handlers turned the dangerous yet probably enormous payday down.
Promoter Arum praised Khan when speaking about him, and said that he can definitely see the 22-year-old getting it on with Pacquiao down the line.
“Amir’s name was on the table, we offered him the fight, but his father, and his family, felt it was too early in his career,” Arum is quoted as saying by The Bolton News. “Amir Khan has all the attributes of a great champion, and I think he’s going to be a superstar in the sport. Okay, so he had a loss in his career [against Breidis Prescott], he made a mistake, but he looks great now. I can definitely see Amir and Manny meeting in the ring down the line.”
Again, a high number of fans will probably look at such a fight as an easy and quick win for “Pac-Man,” especially after how lethal the 30-year-old future Hall of Famer and perhaps all-time great has been looking lately. Interestingly, there was no word from trainer Roach in the article – would Freddie really have been keen on seeing his two fighters taking each other on?
The latest news surrounding just who Khan WILL face next suggests it will be WBA 140-pound mandatory challenger Dmitriy Salita. Surely a Khan-Pacquiao fight is a bad idea that needs to go away?