by James Slater – Amir Khan, the reigning WBA light-welterweight champion, has gone on record as saying he feels his friend and spar mate Manny Pacquiao will be able to defeat Floyd Mayweather Junior when the two greats meet in a super-fight next year. Khan, as he all but admitted in the interview he gave to STV, may be biased in favour of the man he knows pretty well and shares trainers with in Freddie Roach, but he says “Pac-Man’s” incredible speed will see him to victory over the also amazingly fast “Money..”
Khan first spoke about how impressed he was with 32-year-old Mayweather’s return to the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19th.
“It was brilliant, Floyd is a great fighter,” Khan said to STV. “Coming back and having the pressure of not being in the ring for a year-and-a-half – think he looked better than before he retired. Mayweather called it a day and never wanted to look at boxing again, and a year-and-a-half later he’s back in the ring again and he’s still classed as one of the very best in the world.
“I train alongside Manny Pacquiao, who is also classed as one of the best in the world – what a fight that would be. It’s all brewing up for one big fight.”
Indeed it is, and assuming Pacquiao can get past the tough and talented Miguel Cotto on November 14th, it is a good bet that Manny and Floyd will clash in a mega-fight some time in 2010. Khan says he thinks Pacquiao’s speed and greater volume of punches will see him to victory.
“I have to back my guy – my guy is Manny Pacquiao and I think Manny might take the fight with his speed,” Khan said. “A lot of people forget that speed is power. You can’t take it away from Mayweather, who is a fast fighter. But when you take speed with the amount of punches you throw – Manny throws a lot of punches with speed, whereas Mayweather is more a single-shot fighter.
“He’s still quick, but I don’t think single shots will keep Manny Pacquiao away from Mayweather, whereas I know combinations will push Mayweather back.”
Khan, who makes some good points, went on to say he feels the fight looks around 60-percent in Pacquiao’s favour. Can “Pac-Man’s” speed offset Mayweather’s? Will Manny’s higher work-rate prevent “Money” from getting into his usual groove? The potential fight is indeed fascinating.
But if Pacquiao does intend to fight a fast, aggressive fight, as he surely will, he must remember to pay great attention to defence. Not having the hardest of chins, the Filipino dynamo will possibly be made to pay if he focuses solely on what he’s throwing and landing, and not at all on what is coming back from the dazzlingly accurate Mayweather.
Could Mayweather stop Pacquiao? Or could “Pac-Man” gobble up Floyd? Either way, as Khan agrees, a great fight lays in store. First, though, Pacquiao must get past the mighty Cotto!