By Scott Gilfoid: Manny Pacquiao shook his head on media day when asked about the news of him signing to fight Amir Khan for November 8. Pacquiao had the look on his face like, ‘What on earth is Khan talking about?’ when he asked about his thoughts on Khan’s announcement of a November 8 fight between them.
Khan revealed earlier on Tuesday that he and Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) had signed to fight on November 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The way Khan talked about the Pacquiao fight, it that appeared that it was a done deal. He said the contract was already signed for the fight by Pacquiao and himself.
When Pacquiao was asked about his thoughts on signing for the Khan fight, he made a face, and then shook his head with a look of disgust, letting the media know that it was fake news. It’s unclear why Khan chose to tell the media that he and Pacquiao had signed to fight on November 8. Was it an effort by Khan to gain some cheap publicity the easy way?
Whatever the case, Khan shouldn’t make a habit of doing this, because the media will stop taking him seriously. If this was a method by Khan to take some of the thunder from the Pacquiao-Thurman fight to help breath some energy into his own sagging career, then it worked briefly. Boxing fans took notice of Khan today.
Khan says Pacquiao signed to fight him
“It’s been confirmed now, signed by both fighters now, me and Pacquiao,” said Khan to Boxing Social. “Pacquiao signed it as well. [The] fights now going to happen.”
It’s kind of hilarious that Khan would come out of the blue with an announcement that he’s facing Pacquiao next. It’s no secret that Khan has been trying to get a fight against the superstar Pacquiao for years. Khan is going overboard a little in telling the media that the fight has been signed when it apparently hasn’t. The question is why didn’t Khan come up with something more sensational than Pacquiao in announcing a fight. Khan could have shocked the boxing world if he announced that he’s fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. on November 8.
Pacquiao was too quick to deny the Khan fight claim
It’s too bad for Khan that Pacquiao quickly denied his claims of a fight on November 8. If Pacquiao had waited until after his fight on Saturday night against Keith Thurman, Khan could have a week of good publicity, riding Manny’s coattails. For a lot of casual boxing fans worldwide, they would have found out who Khan is without him even having to fight.
Khan needs a good backup plan for his next fight now that Pacquiao isn’t going to be the one. There are a lot of good options at 140 and 147 Khan can pick from. His last opponent Billy Dib was pooled from the featherweight division. It would be in Khan’s best interest to at least select someone from the light welterweight division if not from the 147 pound weight class.