By William Mackay: IBF/WBO light welterweight champion Amir Khan makes no bones about who he’s picking in this Saturday’s bout between WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Khan is picking his good buddy Pacquiao to win the fight, seeing Marquez as too top heavy in terms of the added muscle that he’s put on for this fight. Khan thinks the extra muscle is a mistake and will slow Marquez down in this fight. Khan feels the end will come early for Marquez, likely by the 5th, he says.

Speaking with the telegraph.co.uk, Khan said “Marquez looks too big, he looks very heavy upper body and that’s going to work against him because he’s more of a counter fighter and a guy who’s quick and catches you in between shots…He’s way too big for his size. I believe within five rounds Manny will win this fight – he will definitely do a job on him..Marquez has aged a lot more than Manny.”

Here’s my take on this: I don’t agree with Khan at all about Marquez being too muscular. He’s put on just enough muscle as to make him competitive against Pacquiao. He certainly couldn’t come into the fight weighing only 135 pounds and get dominated by a 145 pound Pacquiao, could he? And as far as Marquez aging, he actually looks to be about the same age in terms of ring wear as Pacquiao. If anyone is slowing down, it appears to be Pacquiao, who can’t jump around like he used to.

I don’t see any Kos in this fight. That’s not going to happen. Khan is dead wrong in picking Pacquiao to win this by an early 5th round knockout. But of course, Khan also picked David Haye to beat Wladimir Klitschko by knockout, so you kind of have to take his predictions with a grain of salt.

I can see Marquez making this another very tough fight for Pacquiao. I’m not picking Marquez to win the fight but I sure don’t see this being an easy cakewalk fight for Pacquiao like Khan is portraying it. Khan is dreaming if he thinks Pacquiao will knockout Marquez. That won’t happen. Pacquiao will struggle and probably look bad in winning the fight, just as he has in the first two fights. Pacquiao has one thing going in his favor in this fight and that’s his slightly younger age, but he’s an old 32. Fights against Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey has put some wear on the Filipino.