By Edward Chaykovsky
Amir Khan denies that he traveled over to Doha for a secret meeting with former sparringmate Manny Pacquiao.
Both fighters came to Doha to attend the AIBA World Boxing Championships, but Pacquiao left on Friday morning after arriving on Thursday. Khan arrived on Friday evening.
With both fighters coming to the country in such a close timeframe, rumors began swirling that a fight is possibly being negotiated for the Middle East.
There are ongoing talks for a Pacquiao-Khan collision in early 2016. Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, is speaking with Khan's handlers.
Those discussions have nothing to do with both fighters coming to the region within a day of each other.
“Actually, it’s just a coincidence. Please don’t read anything more into it. I was not aware he was coming, and my programme had been fixed much earlier. As I said already, we would love to fight each other, and our respective teams are working towards it, but this visit has got nothing to do with it,” Khan told local reporters in Doha.
Khan plans to stick around in Doha until the end of October to train.
“I would be training here. My conditioning coach is landing here tonight, and we would be working out on a few things. The weather is great here at this time of the year, and the facilities, needless to say, are excellent,” Khan said.