Amir Khan boxing news
A few days back, Top Rank Boss and Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum stated flat-out that the stories in the UK newspapers claiming Pacquiao could fight Amir Khan next were “complete bulls**t.” Well, the ongoing saga on who Pac-Man may fight next just took yet another twist, as Manny himself has confirmed that yes, he IS in talks with Khan.
“My team and I are in negotiations with Amir Khan for our next fight. Further announcement coming soon,” Pacquiao wrote in his tweet.
Just who will superstar Manny Pacquiao fight next, and where will the fight take place? Recently, with doubts creeping in over Pacquiao’s assumed April fight with Jeff Horn in Brisbane, an online poll, set up by Manny himself, asked fans who they wanted to see him fight next and in the United Arab Emirates.
And yesterday evening UK time a number of reports came out in the British press that said a deal had been reached for Pacquiao to fight Amir Khan next. Khan won the twitter poll, receiving the most fan votes, so plenty of people bought into the idea that it would indeed be Pacquiao-Khan next.
Amir Khan wants to fight just about any welterweight aside from Kell Brook. Khan has repeatedly called for a return bout with Danny Garcia, he recently topped a fan poll where Manny Pacquiao asked his fans to pick his next opponent, and now Khan is targeting a revenge fight with the man who scored a contentious decision win over him in the most controversial fight of his career: Lamont Peterson.
Last night Peterson won the WBA “world” welterweight belt with a wide points win over David Avanesyan and Khan immediately called him out.
Last year we were both treated to and surprised by a couple of big fight match-ups that literally came right out of the blue. Nobody saw Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan coming, and it was even more of a shock when Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook was announced later in the year.
Could we see some more surprises here in 2017? Manny Pacquiao Vs. Amir Khan, would that provide the big shock factor if it took place this year? As fans know, Pac-Man has just asked his fans, via Twitter, to pick his next opponent from the four choices he provided: Khan, Terence Crawford, Jeff Horn and Kell Brook (who is definitely out now that his fight with Errol Spence Jr. has been confirmed).
Of the four pro defeats Amir Khan has suffered – to Breidis Prescott, Lamont Peterson, Danny Garcia and Canelo Alvarez – it is the third defeat he picked up, at the hands of Garcia, that bothers him the most – simply because Khan fully believes, as do others, that he was beating Garcia before “making one mistake and getting caught.”
Khan craves a shot at revenge, and he wants one far more than he wants a fight with fellow Brit Kell Brook. Khan, who says he cannot wait to return to ring action with his “new” right hand, having had surgery on the hand before Christmas, aims for a tune-up first before hopefully getting the rematch with Garcia towards the end of the year.
For those fans that are still interested, even a little bit, in the Amir Khan-Kell Brook, will they, won’t they fight saga (and it sure is growing tiresome), Khan has announced he will not fight Brook unless Brook takes on and gets past his IBF mandatory at 147, Errol Spence Junior.
Brook has tried everything to get Khan to fight him; recently taking Khan up on his reported 70-30 purse split demand by offering a deal where the winner between them would pick up a 70-30 share of the purse. But Khan, in speaking with The Star, says there is no chance he will fight Brook next.
It’s one of two defeats that really bothers Amir Khan, and the former 140-pound champ remains ever hopeful he will get a chance to avenge it one day. The fight in question is the 2012 stoppage defeat Khan suffered at the dangerous hands – his left hand in particular – of Danny Garcia.
The hugely controversial points defeat to Lamont Peterson aside (this too being a loss Khan has never forgotten about wanting to avenge) the Garcia loss bugs Khan the most. Ahead on the cards and outboxing “Swift” at the time of the crushing stoppage (Khan still on his feet trying to fight back at the time of the referee’s timely stoppage) Khan is convinced he will beat Garcia in a return meeting.
Following the latest round of Twitter exchanges between Kell Brook and Amir Khan it seems more likely than ever that this highly anticipated fight may actually be made for sometime in 2017.
Khan claimed the Brook wasn’t on his level previously and that he need a win over a big name to turn himself into a viable opponent. Brook on the other hand has always publicly shown a willingness to test Khans ‘whiskers’ and get the fight on.
Have we seen the best of former 140-pound champ Amir Khan, maybe even the end of his winning fights at the top level – or can the now 30-year-old bounce back from his crushing KO loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2017? Khan, who is excited to get back in action having had an op on his troublesome right hand, told The Bolton News he is positive he can win a world title at welterweight.
Khan Tweeted yesterday how his next opponent will be announced “soon” and the British star told The Bolton News how he will win that welterweight title and that after he does so, “people will forget about the defeats.” Khan of course suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the much bigger and heavier Canelo, and there are plenty of critics out there who feel Khan may have suffered irreparable damage from the heavy KO.
Rather than fight each other, Amir Khan and Kell Brook have been fighting over who can face the most outrageous opponents instead, but signs are that a meeting between the two is at least on the radar for 2017.
Amir Khan is back in training following hand surgery and talking of a British ring return in April against an opponent yet to be determined, although Kell Brook won’t be his pugnacious homecoming first date.