Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pursued By Amir Khan; British Boxer Claims He's Faster And A Better Boxer Than Manny Pacquiao

Amir Khan is continuing his campaign to be Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s next opponent even discrediting former sparring partner and friend Manny Pacquiao saying that he’s now the better boxer and faster inside the ring than the Filipino pugilist.

“I'm younger, I'm faster and I box better than Manny Pacquiao. I've got youth behind me and I have a new trainer, which has made a massive difference in my training, being in the Bay Area and getting away from all the distractions in LA. I've come here because I'm serious about the sport,” Khan declared via an interview with Ben Thompson of Fight Hype, a popular boxing news website.

In the interview, Khan was asked of the criticism of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who opined that “nobody cares about Amir Khan” and was even destroyed in a previous fight, referring to the Garcia shocker in 2012.

“I wasn't knocked out. I was on my feet, but then you've got Manny Pacquiao, who's been knocked out cold, and you guys are saying he should be next in line?” Khan responded with vitriol even criticising Smith about his observations. Smith is a well-known sports personality in the United States and also called out Mayweather for not taking the Pacquiao fight.

“I'm gonna be a man about this because somebody needs to. Here's the bottom line: Floyd Mayweather Jr. continues to tell the public that he just wants to give the fans what we want to see. My response is people have been askin’ for Pacquiao for years... Passing Pacquiao for [Cotto and Alvarez] there is no excuse for Manny Pacquiao, particularly if what you're coming to us is Amir Khan,” Smith said in his ESPN show, First Take.

Both Pacquiao and Khan fought under trainer Freddie Roach from before Khan dropped the American trainer in 2012 after a brutal technical knockout loss to Danny Garcia in September that year.

Roach and Khan went separate ways two years ago in rather bitter terms with the latter claiming that the former neglected him during training camp for the Garcia fight. For his part Roach insisted that Khan was too aggressive and maintained the game plan was to break down Garcia first before a full-fledged attack.

Khan’s recent pronouncement to sort of put down Pacquiao comes as a no surprise considering the British boxer wants to get the attention of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Khan might just get what he is wishing for after recent declarations by Mayweather Jr., who is undefeated in 47 career fights, that he is not fighting Manny Pacquiao in 2015 despite statements from his father Floyd Mayweather Sr., who guaranteed that a fight against the Filipino is in the works for 2015. Mayweather Jr. even threatened his father of getting the boot from The Money Team because of the said statement.

Another positive going for Khan is that Pacquiao is fighting under the Bob Arum and HBO sports umbrella— Arum is not well-liked in the Mayweather camp and HBO is the rival of Showtime/CBS, the carrier of Mayweather Jr.’s pay-per-view (PPV) fights.

Khan (29-3-0, 19 knockouts) at 27 years old is indeed younger than Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 knockouts), who’s nine years senior of Khan. However, his claim that he is faster and better boxer than Pacquiao is arguable at best.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has said previously that 2015 will be his final year in boxing before calling it quits in the sport. With retirement looming, boxers like Amir Khan are hoping to fight the undefeated American and get that huge payday. However, sports fans are still demanding for what could be the biggest bout in boxing history— the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao super fight. It’s only a matter of time before Mayweather Jr. makes the final decision and Khan is hoping that the American picks him rather than Pacquiao.