Arum: Pacquiao vs. Khan - Haymon Would Prevent It!

By Edward Chaykovsky

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum is open to the possibility of a fight between WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and British star Amir Khan.

The two fighters were once stablemates under Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California. In 2012, Khan left Roach and hired trainer Virgil Hunter.

Arum would certainly consider Khan as a potential Pacquiao opponent, but he's confident that Khan's adviser, Al Haymon, would likely prevent the fight from ever taking place. Arum has stated in several interviews that Haymon is a serious roadblock to a mega-fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who Haymon also advises.

Earlier this year, Khan brought Haymon on board to help guide his career. Arum and Haymon do absolutely no business together and there is little to no communication between the two sides.

“That's always a possibility. Khan is a very good fighter and he has a fairly good following in the UK. He is someone that surely should be considered. However, he is under the influence of an advisor who would do everything in his power not to let that happen,” Arum told Gareth Davies of The Telegraph.

Adding to that, Arum says there is no way that Pacquiao would ever travel to the UK for a fight with Khan, who suggested that a showdown with his former sparring partner could fill up a major stadium on British soil.

“There's no way, other than in a wet dream, where you can imagine a situation where Manny Pacquiao fights in the UK because of the difference in time," Arum said. “The fight itself would have to take place at maybe five o'clock in the morning in the UK. The preliminaries could take place around 3am. Now, London being London, would people come out at that time to watch a fight? I don't think so.

“Throughout my whole boxing career I've looked at major fights coming out of the UK and in an era of closed circuit and pay per view, it's just not possible. It was certainly very possible years ago when fights went on in the evening, at a normal hour, in England and it was shown during the afternoon in the US.”