Boxing News 2015: Amir Khan wants Manny Pacquiao but open to fight against Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather has officially retired but that is not stopping British boxer Amir Khan from chasing him for a fight. In a recent interview, Khan admitted that his primary target for his next bout is Filipino Manny Pacquiao but said that the undefeated American remains in his radar if ever he decides to unretire in the future.

“I think Manny Pacquiao would be the priority because I don’t know how long he has got left in his career. I think he would be the first fight to take,” Khan said to boxingscene.com. “Manny 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, who lost to Mayweather in the “Fight of the Century” last May 2, 2015, is scheduled to return to the ring in early 2016. The Filipino boxer is currently recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered during the training camp for the Mayweather bout. He also aggravated the same injury during the fight an needed surgery.

Meanwhile, Mayweather confirmed post-fight against Andre Berto that he is officially done with the sport of boxing. However, the American once retired in 2008 but eventually returned to boxing. With the lure of big money fights, possibly against Pacquiao or Khan, the possibility remains that Mayweather will unretire again like he did in 2009.

Khan is one of the prospective opponents for Pacquiao in 2016, according to Top Rank Promotions chief Bob Arum. Aside from Khan, other boxers considered for Pacquiao are Kell Brook, Lucas Mattyhsse and Terence Crawford. Khan was a former sparring-mate of Pacquiao under trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in previous years.

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