Pacquiao negotiating with Amir Khan for next fight

By Boxing News - 02/23/2017 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao negotiating with Amir Khan for next fight

By Chris Williams: Just days after Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said that Amir Khan is not in the picture for Manny Pacquio’s next fight in April, the Filipino star announced the news tonight that he IS in negotiations with Khan. Pacquiao, 38, sounds pretty confident about the Khan fight being a possibility for him.

Khan is a far better fight for Pacquiao than Jeff Horn in my view. I still don’t know why Arum didn’t match Pacquiao against Khan last year when he was interested in the fight. Instead of signing Khan for Pacquiao, Arum matched him against two of his Top Rank fighters in Tim Bradley and Jessie Vargas. Not surprisingly, neither fight brought in a lot of PPV buys. It was a missed opportunity to make the Khan vs. Pacquiao fight.

”My team and I are in negotiations with Amir Khan for our next fight. Further announcement coming soon. #Team Pacquiao,” said Pacquiao on his social medial site.

Pacquiao reportedly flew to United Arab Emirates this week to check on an offer ton stage his next fight in that country. Arum confirmed that Pacquiao is talking to people in Dubai about a fight over there. Arum also said that the fight between Pacquiao and Horn was up in the air. That’s the fight that Arum had been working on.

It wasn’t a fight that was well received from the hardcore boxing fans in the U.S, as many of them aren’t too familiar with Horn. If Pacquiao agrees to fight Horn, it’s probably not going to bring in a lot of buys. Pacquiao vs. Khan is a far better fight in my estimation.

Here’s what Arum said earlier this week:

“The Amir Khan story has come out of nowhere,” Arum said via Grantlee Kieza of the Courier Mail. “It is total and complete bull [expletive]. What’s happening is that Manny is talking to these people in Dubai who have offered him an insane amount of money. Whether [the offer] is real or not real — he is determined to explore it to see if it has any validity. That’s all I can say.”

How could Arum not know that Pacquiao is in negotiations with Khan? Why would the 85-year-old Arum say that it’s not true that Khan is in the picture for Pacquiao’s next fight? Is Pacquiao and Arum on the same page when it comes to getting an opponent for his next fight? Does Arum still want Pacquiao to fight Jeff Horn?

You can’t blame Pacquiao for looking to make a fight with Khan. If Pacquiao gets stuck fighting Horn, he’s probably not going to make a lot of money for that fight. At least if Pacquiao fights Khan, he’ll be able to interest the boxing fans in the U.S, as well as the fans in the UK.