What’s the story?
Despite the rumours that began swirling earlier this week, Bob Arum, the promoter of famed fighter Manny Pacquiao, said that there was no scheduled fight between the Filipino fighter and Amir Khan.
The rumours were described by Arum as “complete and utter bullshit,” as per his statement to the Courier Mail. Arum added that although negotiations had occurred, no agreement of any kind had been made.
Arum was further quoted as saying:
“The Amir Khan story has come out of nowhere. 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,”
In case you didn’t know…
Manny Pacquiao has been close to scheduling a fight with the Australian Jeff Horn, Arum said. The fight has been negotiated for Suncorp Stadium. The Queensland government and Brisbane City Council have agreed to bankroll the $7 million purse for the fight.
Khan’s representatives said they spoke to Arum in January about a possible discussion. In a Feb. 12 tweet, Pacquiao polled his fans on who he should battle next; Khan received 48 percent of the vote, while Horn was the least popular option with 7 percent of the vote.
The heart of the matter
Arum has completely denied any deal between Khan and Pacquiao having happened so far. The fight is highly anticipated and is expected to draw a large worldwide audience in the event that it is made to happen.
Fans and boxing enthusiasts have been clamouring for this fight to happen since a very long time.
What’s next?
Pacquiao’s last battle took place in November, promoted by Oscar De La Hoya, when he defeated American welterweight fighter, Jessie Vargas.
However, his potential opponent, Khan, has not been in a fight since his May 2016 battle with Mexican middleweight boxer Saul Alvarez, known as Canelo, where he suffered damage to his left hand requiring subsequent surgery.
Retired boxer Barry McGuigan commented on the potential matchup, suggesting that Khan should not try to take on Pacquiao first after his injury, given his history of losing to heavy hitters.
McGuigan’s statement on the issue, as quoted from his op-ed in The Mirror, was as follows:
“Khan has been in some great fights, loves a tear-up and is brave as a lion, too brave sometimes. Even at this advanced stage of Pacman’s career anything less than 100 per cent would not be good enough for Khan, and even that might not be sufficient.”
Sportskeeda’s take
Pacquiao, with his heavy political schedule, doesn’t have a lot of Superfights left in him. However, Amir Khan is one opponent that the Filipino sensation has never faced before and a battle between the two is sure to draw some high PPV numbers.
We hope that the negotiations go through positively so we can see two of the greatest boxers of this generation in the ring together.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
