‘We were planning for Manny Pacquiao to fight at the end of February, or at the latest, the first two weeks in April, ‘ he told the Telegraph.
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He also said that there is no assurance the negotiations will turn out successful, but he knows that everyone involved is doing it in “good faith”.
“Manny P was probably number two pound-for-pound so by fighting him and beating him, it might get me to be the number one pound for pound fighter and then you get someone like Floyd Mayweather who might say I will come out of retirement and fight him-imagine that”. Pacquiao lost to Mayweather via unanimous decision but would later on reveal that he was fighting with an injured shoulder.
It’s a good sign that Arum is saying that he’s not going to discuss any other opponent for Pacquiao while he’s trying to put together a fight between him and Khan. “His shoulder is healing well, but he won’t fight again this year…”
Veteran boxing coach Freddie Roach wants Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez for the eight-division world champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s next fight.
Pacquiao suffered a torn right rotator cuff in his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2nd of this year in Las Vegas, Nevada. Khan and Pacquiao have already sparred before, during the time when Roach also trained Khan.
Asked if who will Pacquiao pick as his next opponent, Roach said that it will definitely the best guy available out there.
“If Manny fights Khan, Khan will probably bring 3,000 or 4,000 people over from the United Kingdom for the fight”, Arum said according to a report by ESPN. “Well Bob (Arum) tells me he does”. Styles do make fights, but given Pacquiao’s mugging of Chris Algieri – and Khan’s subsequent struggle with an aggressive Algieri – Pac would indeed murder Khan, and not pick up a belt in the process.
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Khan had been interested in having a Pacquiao fight in the UAE, but insufficient interest by local authorities appears to have made it a near-certainty to be held in Las Vegas. But Marquez has repeatedly said that he does not want to fight Pacquiao anymore stating there is nothing more to prove who is the better fighter between them following his stunning knockout win against the Filipino boxing star in 2012.
