By Jason Kim: Like a lot of boxing fans, I’m not too thrilled at Manny Pacquiao’s choice of opponent for his next fight on May 7th. I think Shane Mosley has had a great career, but when picking opponents to face Pacquiao, ideally they should at least be winning their recent fights you would think. Mosley hasn’t won a fight in ages and it doesn’t help matters that he’s approaching 40-years-old.

Juan Manuel Marquez and Andre Berto were both considered as potential opponents for Pacquiao but then quickly dismissed, as Arum dialed into the fighter that he wanted Pacquiao to face with the 39-year-old Mosley. But I think Amir Khan would be perhaps a better opponent for Pacquiao compared to Mosley.

Khan reportedly got the better of Pacquiao in their recent sparring sessions, and Khan has been talking quite a bit about wanting to fight the best fighters in the sport like Floyd Mayweather Jr. I think given how much hand and foot speed Khan has going for him, he’d at least be able to stay on his feet for a while and avoid a lot of Pacquiao’s punishing shots.

Khan was able to avoid getting caught by the murderous punching Maidana for 9 rounds until making a mistake in the 10th and getting caught by a big right that staggered Khan. If Khan can stay up 12 rounds against Maidana, perhaps he’s good enough to finish on his feet against Pacquiao provided that Khan can run for 12 rounds without tiring out and getting knocked cold.

Given the choice between Pacquiao vs. Mosley and Pacquiao vs. Khan, I’d take the Khan-Pacquiao fight any day of the week. I don’t think Khan would stand a chance of winning, but at least he’d be able to survive longer due to his running ability.