Just a few months removed from a scintillating victory over Argentinean brute Marcos Maidana at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Khan is now setting his sights on his April 16th defense against capable Irishman Paul McCloskey at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester. Khan recently began training for the contest at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles and will soon be making a trek overseas to the Philippines to once again put in some work with good friend and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. Khan and Pacquiao have become very familiar with each other over the past few years. Amir joined trainer Freddie Roach’s stable of fighters after his crushing September 2008 knockout loss to Breidis Prescott and has shown himself to be a very lively foe while helping assist Pacquiao for any of his upcoming duels. As Khan’s progression under Roach has flourished, more and more he has reportedly been able to handle his own with the Filipino stalwart.
Khan and Pacquiao are two fascinating characters with completely different backgrounds and each has carved out a special corner of their own within the sport. Being belt holders only one weight class away from each other, Pacquiao holds the WBO welterweight crown, it’s only natural that people have flirted with the idea of the two men facing one another.
While it may be something worth pondering to others, Khan isn’t in the mood to hear such talk.
“There is absolutely no way we will ever fight each other in earnest,” Khan said in a recent interview with Kevin Francis of the Daily Star. “I will never fight Manny. He has one or two fights left in him, but I will not be one of them. The fight might be pushed towards us but he and me have agreed that we will never fight each other.”
News flash: You didn’t forget about Yuri Foreman did you?
Khan made $975,000 for his effort against Maidana, a number that would increase ten-fold if he were to ever butt heads with Pacquiao as a professional, but he insists the lure of cash isn’t greater than his deep-rooted friendship.
“No matter what kind of money would be an offer, there is absolutely no way that two people who are such good friends will fight each other,” Khan continued.
As you hear Khan speak you can tell how much emotion he has tied to the topic. He finishes up with some more sound logic by pointing to just how hard of a decision it would be on Roach if he were ever to have to choose between his two pupils.
“You must also remember that we are both trained by Freddie Roach and a fight between us would put him in a very awkward position. He would have that kind of agonizing choice to make – does he go into my corner or does he go into Manny’s corner?”
