By Edward Chaykovsky

Two weeks ago, BoxingScene.com posted a story which outlined the possibility of a future a clash between close friends Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan. In the same story, it was revealed that members of Pacquiao's team are no longer willing to allow the Filipino superstar to take part in sparring sessions with Khan.

Both boxers are trained by Freddie Roach and use the services of conditioning coach Alex Ariza. Khan plans to move up to Pacquiao's weight division of 147 in early 2012. He defends his IBF/WBA 140-pound titles against Lamont Peterson in December, while Pacquiao is training for his trilogy bout with Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12th.

Although Roach is currently training both boxers at his Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, Khan revealed to his hometown paper, Bolton News, that members of Pacquiao's team are still not allowing the two boxers to spar with each other and now their training periods are being held on different schedules. In the past the two boxers used to train side by side and spar with each other. 

“It’s strange. There’s tension in the camp. My team are cool and I’m just concentrating on Peterson but his team seem to be worried. His camp don’t want me sparring with him and now we train at different times. It’s like they’re keeping us apart. We still see each other when one comes and the other goes, and have a quick chat, but it’s not how it used to be. It’s like his people are thinking there could be a fight between us,” Khan said.

Khan has no intention of pursuing a fight against his friend. And Roach already made it clear that he'd work the corner of Pacquiao if a fight with Khan became a reality.

“Manny’s never been on my radar. We’re good friends and I’d never want to put Freddie and Alex in that position. I would prefer to fight Mayweather but so many fights happened nowadays you just never know,” Khan said. 

Tags: Amir Khan , Manny Pacquiao