BOXING: Amir Khan’s advisers turned down the offer of a fight with his stablemate Manny Pacquiao.
Promoter Bob Arum, the head of Top Rank, revealed that the Bolton boxer was offered the challenge of fighting the world’s No 1 pound-for-pound fighter this autumn.
But the offer was firmly rejected by his family insisting it was too early in his career.
“We were offered the fight a few months ago but it is not an option at the moment,” said his father Shah Khan.
“Maybe in a couple of years it is something we would look at but not at this stage.”
Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, revealed that Khan, now the World Boxing Association light-welterweight champion, had been made the offer soon after the Filipino fighter had defeated Ricky Hatton.
Arum said: “Amir’s name was on the table, we offered him the fight, but his father, and his family felt it was too early in his career.
“Amir Khan has all the attributes of a great champion, and I think he’s going to be a superstar in the sport.
“Okay, so he had a loss in his career, he made a mistake, but he looks great now. It was a great performance which won him the world title against Kotelnik, and you can only see him getting better. I can definitely see Amir and Manny meeting in the ring down the line.”
The pair are stablemates at the Los Angeles Wild card Gym and are both trained by Freddy Roach, who claimed his 23rd world champion with Khan’s success.
Khan’s next challenge may be a first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title, with his promoter Frank Warren believed to be in talks with mandatory challenger Ukrainian-born New Yorker Dmitry Salita, 27, who is unbeaten in 31 contests.
