Khan, Maidana eye Pacquiao bout

Nissi Icasiano

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Khan, Maidana eye Pacquiao bout
Still no fight with Mayweather? Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana are two fighters that want to test their mettle against Manny Pacquiao

 

MANILA, Philippines – Two high-profile fighters are spearheading a campaign to face World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in the ring.

After several attempts to seal an encounter with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr, Amir Khan (30-3, 19 knockouts) is turning his attention to the Filipino boxing icon.

Since moving up to the welterweight division last year, the 28-year-old British boxer has been vocal of his desire to lock horns with Mayweather.

In line of his pursuance to secure a marquee match-up with the unbeaten American pugilist, Khan inked a management deal with Al Haymon, who serves as an adviser for Mayweather.

Khan found success in his first two outings as a 147-pound competitor as he dominated both Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander in a separate 2014 encounter.

The former junior welterweight titlist insisted that his remarkable victory over a top-caliber opponent like Alexander is enough to earn a shot at Mayweather.

However, Mayweather brushed off any discussion of squaring off with Khan and stressed that the latter’s name is not big enough to merit a bout against him and would not generate a strong draw for a pay-per-view event.

Khan had a change of tone on Thursday, January 8 (PH Time) when he asked his followers on social media for their thoughts on an in-ring meeting with Pacquiao, who was his stablemate at Freddie Roach’s Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles, California.


Pacquiao and Khan trained together under the tutelage of Roach and were sparring partners, but the 5-foot-8 Briton left the 6-time “Trainer of the Year” recipient’s camp in 2012 to join Virgil Hunter.

Meanwhile, boxing coach Robert Garcia expressed that he would like to pair Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) with Pacquiao if he will be given the opportunity to select a foe for his valued pupil.

“If we had the opportunity to choose the next opponent of [Maidana], I would say Pacquiao, but there are many things in the middle that would hinder that such as promoters, managers, television networks. Perhaps, that’s why we can’t do too much [to make that fight], but that’s the fight I’d like for Chino,” Garcia said in an interview with ESPN Deportes

The 31-year-old Maidana had 3 consecutive major matches, outpointing Adrien Broner to capture the World Boxing Association welterweight belt in December 2013 before dropping back-to-back bouts to Mayweather last year.

Although Pacquiao asserted on numerous occasion that he is willing to take on anyone inside the squared-circle, his sights are still set on a super-fight between him and Mayweather.

According to various reports, the Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown is still under negotiation and nothing is certain until both men finally sign the contract.

If the highly-anticipated clash versus Mayweather remains elusive this year, Top Rank Promotions chief Bob Arum reportedly has plans of having Pacquiao compete in April on United States soil and one Macau fight in November. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!