If Amir Khan had a different first name -- like say Amin (pronounced "ah-mean"), and fought with the type of evil as diabolical as the rule of 70's Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada; then perhaps he could strike fear in the heart of Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum, as Khan, has turned his attention to Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao for a confrontation after being dissed for the last time by Floyd Mayweather.
"This kid Amir Khan keeps shooting his mouth off about Manny Pacquiao, dropped "The Bobfather" to the UK's Daily Mail. "I can arrange for Khan to fight Pacquiao."
When asked specifically about Pacquiao's availability to fight Khan and when, Arum was equally succinct and direct. "Amir Khan has been begging Mayweather for a fight and now he can get a major fight," Arum continued. "I'm not a hard guy to deal with and I'm not going to mess them around. Manny's not going to fight this year."
It had long been rumored that Arum wanted to stage an organized crime hit [of sorts] on Khan - with Pacquiao as the hitman - in Dubai, before his infamous patience wore thin with the lascivious tactics of business developers from the wealthy region. But about an hour away via car lies Abu Dhabi, where Arum has a group of associates willing to stage a blockbuster Pacquiao fight. This was the same group that offered even more money than Las Vegas for May/Pac, and Arum hasn't forgotten the windfall he thinks a Khan fight can produce there.
Because of the preliminary nature of talks at this point nothing can be held certain. But Arum did reveal (with a fair degree of certainty) that Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38KO), would most likely return to the ring in early 2016, while ruling out Dubai and almost assuring it would take place in Abu Dhabi. If that's the case, then the chances of that opponent being Amir Khan is highly probable, considering the UK based Khan is of Pakistani descent. Abu Dhabi has an extremely large population of Filipino and Pakistani expatriates, making a Pacquiao vs. Khan match the closest either man could get to producing a lucrative bout in front of their native countrymen.
"One thing's for sure- Pacquiao is not ducking Khan," sneered Arum, in an obvious shot at Mayweather (who's in with the pedestrianAndre Berto on Sept. 12). "Pacquiao will fight him. He'll fight early next year and probably in the Middle East. It won't be in Dubai- but it will be in the Middle East."
As for Khan (31-3, 19KO), he believes Mayweather-- who he referred to in a recent article as 'childish' for saying he needs to avengeDanny Garcia, laid out the blueprint to how he'd get a victory over his ex-stablemate and sparring partner. "To win a fight against someone like Pacquiao, the key is speed, movement and distance and that's how Mayweather beat him," spilled Khan on air to Dubai Eye 103.8. "Floyd beat him by being sneaky and he made it look so easy. If you stick to the same gameplan Mayweather used, then it's an all day win for me."
Two things about what Khan just said there:
#1. He's not Mayweather.
#2. He's still "Swift" crazy.
Pacquiao and Khan sparred some 140 to 160 rounds with each other during his stint from 2008-2012 with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym, enough time in the ring to know each other fairly well. In watching footage made available of more than 60 rounds of sparring between them, with the most as recent as during preparation for Pacquiao's first encounter with Timothy Bradley, Khan generally won the majority of the rounds. I didn't witness any knockdowns, but there were a number of occasions where Pacquiao froze Khan with a straight left to the jaw-- and simply stopped fighting. Since Roach saw everything between them, let's hear how he feels about this.
"Manny frequently put Amir on the floor, knocking him cold 4 or 5 times," sprayed Roach last November, while just getting warmed up. "There's no point in Manny fighting Amir. The reality is it's not a big fight."
Freddie probably doesn't feel the same way now, as that was before May 2, and Pacquiao could use a big KO over a big name and Amir Khan will due in Abu Dhabi. Personally, Khan should stop watching May/Pac tapes and YouTube a few fights of Kell Brook. That is the man he needs to face in an ultimate UK showdown. Its as hot as it ever will be right now, and to not challenge Brook for his IBF welterweight belt and bragging rights on London streets is brutally insane.
He also probably doesn't understand that in addition to Pac having extensive memories of sending him to "The Twilight Zone", there's actual footage of what total Pac victim Chris Algieri did to him recently. Khan got a very kind UD of Algieri (who I thought beat Khan) and still fights with the ghost of Danny Garcia in the ring. He's not nearly as dialed in offensively since being lit up by "Swift", and it still doesn't help that he laid trainer Virgil Hunter out to dry after being pummeled by Algieri in victory.
If it is indeed Khan that Pacquiao is served up in early 2016, he'll systematically dismember and annihilate Khan, leaving him scattered all over an Abu Dhabi ring and outlined in chalk.
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