By Edward Chaykovsky
With a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. out of his reach, Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs) has set his sights on a possible 2016 showdown with former stablemate Manny Pacquiao.
Khan is looking to return in the fall after holding out hope of facing Mayweather on September 12th. Mayweather will instead defend his WBC/WBA welterweight titles against Andre Berto on the date.
They trained together for several years under Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood - until Khan parted with Roach and hired Virgil Hunter in 2012.
Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is very interested in making that fight in Las Vegas or the Middle East.
“Yes, I think the fight can happen. If it makes sense financially for both of us, then I think the fight will definitely take place,” said Khan to Dubai Eye 103.8.
“I think it makes sense for both of us to take it. It’s a great storyline because obviously Manny Pacquiao and I used to train together and we had the same trainer, Freddie Roach, so we know a lot about each other. It’s a great story.
“And fighting-style wise, Manny wasn’t at his best against a defensive Mayweather, but with me I’m a totally different fighter. We both like to fight, move and both have tremendous hand speed. I think it would be amazing.
Arum believes Pacquiao's punching power will be too much for Khan. The British boxer disagrees. He says Mayweather crafted the perfect game plan to blunt Pacquiao's speed and offense - when the pair clashed in their mega-fight on May 2nd.
“To win a fight against someone like Pacquiao the key is speed, movement and distance and that’s how Mayweather beat him. Floyd beat him by being sneaky and he made it look so easy. If you stick to the same game plan that Mayweather used, then it’s an all-day win for me," Khan said.