By Mark Vester
WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan tells Sportinglife that WBO welterweight king Manny Pacquiao told him that he's good enough to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. right now. The two fighters are both trained by Freddie Roach, who's had them train and spar with each other several times in the past.
"Manny thinks it will be a good fight because he's trained with me, sparred with me, he really thinks I'm good enough to fight Mayweather now," said Khan. "But I think in the next 12 months, when I get even better and with more experience, I think I'll be in better condition to fight him then.
"This is a timing game and I want to fight him when I think I'm ready, not when he's ready and I'm not. I want to fight him when we're both ready and when I've hit my peak. I think in the next 12 months, that will be an ideal fight for me. It's definitely a fight I'd fancy."
Khan's promoter, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, thinks the British fighter has the style to beat Mayweather and would like to make the fight by the end of next year.
"Richard Schaefer says it's a fight of the future. He said as long as we both keep winning it would be a huge fight," Khan said. "It's a fight he wants to see made and he thinks I've got the style to beat Mayweather. He says he hasn't said that to many people but yes, he thinks it's a good fight for me in the future."
