Amir Khan is pushing for a fight against Manny Pacquiao, predicting that it’ll create more hype than the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight from last year.
‘Same Level’ as Pacquiao
The retired 38-year-old former light welterweight champion Khan (34-6, 21 KOs) says that he and the 46-year-old Pacquiao are at the same level now. He states that it would give the boxing public a chance to see the kind of fight they would have had if they’d fought in 2017, when they were close to setting up a mega-fight in the UAE.
Fans Mock the Payday Talk
Users on social media are criticizing Khan, seeing his callout of Pacquiao as a pathetic attempt to get a “payday” against the Filipino star.
Pacquiao hasn’t responded yet to Khan’s attempt to set up a fight with him. On Wednesday, Manny talked of being in negotiations with 48-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a rematch in 2026. That’s a fight that Pacquiao believes can happen, and he says it would be a “real fight.”
Khan doesn’t believe the Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch will happen. He sees Mayweather being too busy fighting “YouTubers.”
“I think Manny Pacquiao is at the same level. We’re both retired and at the same time,” said Amir Khan to talkSport Boxing about wanting. “He’s slipping a little bit. It would have been nice to get in the ring with him to see how it would have been if we’d fought a long time ago.”
Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) fought WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios to a 12-round majority draw in his last fight on July 19, 2025. That performance by Manny was far superior to how Khan looked in his last fight, losing to Kell Brook by a sixth-round knockout on February 19, 2022.
LETS GO @MannyPacquiao I’m up for one final dance but only with you as my partner. You’re still talking rematch with Floyd? Let’s make OUR fight that never happened. This is the ONLY one that gets me out of retirement – it’s what the fans always wanted 🤔 pic.twitter.com/NYSFRP5tsJ
— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) October 29, 2025
“What a fight it would be. I would like to be in the ring with a legend,” said Khan. “I know it would be a great fight. Manny is a friend. It would sell as well because we both have decent names. It’ll create more hype because we both retired recently, and at the same time, we’re both big names.”
U.S fans wouldn’t be excited about subscribing to Netflix to see Pacquiao fight Khan, as he’s not well known with the younger fans. The older ones who are familiar with Khan remember him for his knockout losses to Briedis, Prescott, Canelo Alvarez, Kell Brook, and Terence Crawford.
“More Hype Than Jake Paul vs Tyson”
“Well, definitely, you know what it’ll create more hype,” said Khan about a fight between him and Pacquiao, creating more fan interest than the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight on Netflix on November 15, 2024. That fight was seen by 108 million viewers globally on Netflix, which a massive number.
That sounds like wishful thinking on Khan’s part, as a fight between him and Pacquiao likely wouldn’t generate anywhere near the same amount of interest as the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. There’s not enough of a following for him or Pacquiao to bring in over 100 million viewers, or even match the numbers the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford brought in on Netflix for their fight on September 13, 2025.
