Khan might not be as dangerous as Kell Brook or Terence Crawford, but he is a tough competitor who always comes to fight?
Top Rank?s Bob Arum has wanted to promote a fight in the Middle East forever. However attractive a proposition, some thought it was pie in the sky, while others saw it as money in the bank, especially when a fighter the caliber of Manny Pacquiao was involved.
That volatile region has never hosted a world-class championship fight. When the idea was floated in the past, the cons always seemed to outweigh the pros. Sometimes Manny?s opponent wanted to fight closer to home. Other times the logistics of hosting a fight at such a far remove from the U.S, Great Britain, or Germany, created problems as well.
But according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, who spoke with Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz yesterday after a meeting with Bob Arum, it looks like Manny?s next fight will be on Friday, May 19, in either Abu Dhabi or Dubai against former super lightweight champion Amir Khan, a British-born Muslim with roots in Pakistan.
?We decided to move it to May 19 here and May 20 in the United [Arab] Emirates,? Koncz said, ?so we?d have time to promote it properly and make it a huge success.?
Critics of the fight are already sharpening the knives. Hopefully nothing of value gets cut in the process.
Taking a page from the Mayweather playbook, Pacquiao conducted a poll via Twitter last month, asking his followers who he should fight next. Of 44,815 votes cast, with 86 percent of those votes coming from the U.S., Khan swept the poll with a whopping 48 percent, defeating Kell Brook, Terence Crawford and Jeff Horn, who received 24 percent, 21 percent, and seven percent, respectively.
Some are alleging the poll was a setup, that Khan had already been selected in advance. But without any evidence, it?s a claim with all the substance of a dog chasing its tail.
?When I saw Amir ran away with it, I figured most of the votes came from England,? Koncz said, ?but they told me that 86 percent of them were from the U.S. That meant a lot. Obviously, Amir?s a big name in the U.S., too, as well as in England and people saw it for what it is: A toss-up fight against two fast-handed guys.?
The knock on Khan is that he has lost three of his last eight fights, with two of those three losses coming by way of knockout. In his last fight, on May 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he fought Canelo Alvarez and gave the redhead a boxing lesson, before succumbing to the bigger man in the sixth round.
?I saw some people on the internet criticizing Amir for getting knocked out like that, but I don?t criticize him,? Koncz said. ?I applaud him for stepping up and taking the fight against a good fighter like Canelo. He went up two weight classes to take that fight.?
Khan may no longer be at the top of his game. But that applies to Pacquiao as well. Still, he like Manny remains an elite fighter, and while he might not be as dangerous as Kell Brook or Terence Crawford, Khan is a tough competitor who always comes to fight. Plus, and more important, he isn?t afraid to go out on his shield if that?s what it takes.
