By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao ended his London visit where he had a private dinner with Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace on Thursday night followed by a meeting with Amir Khan on Friday before flying to Miami, Florida where he attended the rehearsals for the Miss Universe Beauty pageant which will be telecast this morning by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN Channel 2.
Pacquiao and Khan are friends and at one time trained together under Freddie Roach both at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and in the Philippine summer capital of Baguio City and also sparred occasionally before Khan moved over to train with Virgil Hunter. The two fighters met up at the century-old Fitzroy Lodge Boxing Club in Lambeth.
Pacquiao’s longtime adviser Michael Koncz accompanied Manny and said the talks with Khan went “great.” Pacquiao was greeted enthusiastically by dozens of cheering young London boxers and their trainers as he came through a creaking old door. Many of the fans asked for his autograph.
Koncz had earlier told BoxingScene/Manila Standard/Viva Sports that Khan was a “frontrunner” in the event the Mayweather fight doesn't happen. He also that a showdown between Pacquiao and Khan would be “a very exciting fight” even as he added that and Manny would be more than happy to do it at Wembley stadium.
Koncz was quoted as saying ‘We are looking at that possibility and also Abu Dhabi as another potential venue. ‘But of course we are still working on Mayweather’ while Khan himself said Wembley would be a great stage for me and Manny and Abu Dhabi is very much in the running.”
Khan stated: “It was great seeing Manny again. We talked a bit about old times and also about the future. Although we have this friendship, if fighting each other makes sense then it can certainly happen.”
