By Mark Vester
Francie McNicholl, manager for unbeaten British champion Paul McCloskey, has fired back at some of the recently published comments from Team Amir Khan. There are ongoing negotiations to have McCloskey face Khan on April 16 for the WBA junior welterweight title at the MEN in Manchester. The two sides have been unable to agree on the money, but there is more to it.
McCloskey's management claim that some of the contract clauses are unreasonable. One of them would contractually bind McCloskey to Khan Promotions/Golden Boy Promotions, if McCloskey pulled off the upset. McNicholl feels the fight is slipping away.
"It's probably slipping away to be honest," McNicholl told The Derry Journal. "Barry Hearns (Matchroom Chairman) is still in talks with them. We want them to stop wasting our time. Tell us is it for real?, Do you want the fight or not? And here's our terms if you want it to happen.
"Our demands are very reasonable. We could have looked for a lot more, but we would love nothing more than for Paul to fight Khan and he is very confident he can beat him. It's not our doing, it's not our fault if this dosen't happen. Their figures are an insult. His family call the shots, but they can't have their cake and eat it, they have to share it around."
McNicholl told the paper that he hasn't fully given up on the fight. Sky Sports has approved McCloskey as an opponent. Hearn is keeping the network up to date on the happenings.
""Khan wants someone who he'll beat easily and it will end up being a disappointment on pay-per-view like the Haye vs. Harrison fight. I'm not ruling the Khan fight out just yet," said McNicholl. "I'm flying over to London and I'm meeting with Matchroom on Wednesday and we'll hope to have it finalized. They have since softened the tone and while it's looking very doubtful, things can change. It's a volatile situation. Sky could turn around and demand the fight. They will give us an answer by Wednesday dinner time and we hope to finally have it resolved by then."
