It wasn’t too long ago that Manny wouldn’t even consider fighting Amir Khan due to their history and both being close with trainer Freddie Roach, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Pacquiao is still in negotiations with Floyd Mayweather but the longer those talks take the less likely the two fight on May 2nd and Manny won’t be caught without a plan b. Manny’s advisor Michael Koncz spoke about the Mayweather negotiations and the possibility of fighting Khan:
“I truly don’t believe that Floyd is going to step up to the plate and fight us because he doesn’t give two s-ts about his fans,” Koncz told RingTV.com. “We’re not going to sit around waiting for him. We haven’t closed the door on it, but we’re not going to sit around waiting, so we’re looking at other options.
“That includes Amir. I’ve spoken to Amir on a couple of occasions, and Golden Boy has talked to him, too, I talked to Amir directly before [Golden Boy Promotions President] Oscar [De La Hoya] and [Top Rank CEO] Bob [Arum] got involved. We’re not going to sit around with our hands up our butts.”
He was quick to point out that they weren’t giving up hope for the Floyd fight:
“But just because we’re looking at other options doesn’t mean that we’ve slammed the door on Floyd either. But I’m not very optimistic that he’s going to step up to the plate. We’re going to fight in April or May, regardless of whether it’s Floyd or somebody else,” said Koncz.
“We’re not going to sit around and let our world revolve around Floyd waiting for him to make a decision. We hope that he does the right thing and gives the fans what they want and see who the No. 1 fighter is, pound-for-pound. But I think that the only way to force that fight is that the fans are going to have to force it. We can’t do any more.”
A fight between Pacquiao and Khan would be fairly entertaining figuring Khan has a distinct reach advantage but also carries around a glass jaw. It’d be the perfect boom or bust scenario for Pacquiao and the fight that finally corners Mayweather into a September fight.