Boxing News 2015: Pacquiao vs Khan possible in 2016, venue either in Las Vegas or Dubai
Bob Arum, the president of the Top Rank Promotions, which handles Manny Pacquiao’s fights, is reportedly talking with Amir Khan’s camp already for a probable Pacquiao vs Khan fight in 2016 with Las Vegas, Nevada and Dubai, United Arab Emirates as possible location of the bout.
"We were planning for Manny Pacquiao to fight at the end of February, or at the latest, the first two weeks in April. March is out of the question because of a big college basketball tournament in the United States. That gets all the ink at the time.” Arum said to the Sunday Telegraph.
“I’m in the process of having negotiations with Amir Khan’s uncle and his lawyer, Robert Davis, and those negotiations are ongoing.”
Pacquiao, who is an elected congressman in his home country, the Philippines, is expected to run for another public seat in the country’s elections to be held in May 2016. Arum added that he’s negotiating only with Khan’s camp for now saying it’s unethical to consider other opponent for Pacquiao while they are in talk with the British boxer’s handlers.
Previous reports stated that other probable opponents for Pacquiao, aside from Khan, are Lucas Matthysse, Terence Crawford, Kell Brook and Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez has already stated publicly that he does not want a fifth fight with Pacquiao.
“There is a possibility that it could happen in Dubai, but I think it’s more likely it will happen in Las Vegas,” Arum also stated in the interview.
Pacquiao and Khan were former sparmates in Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in previous years.
Pacquiao (56-6-2, 38 knockouts) is coming off a loss against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May in the bout dubbed the “Fight of the Century” while Khan (31-3-0, 18 knockouts) is coming off a win over Chris Algieri also last May.
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