By Mark Vester
When UK lightweight Amir Khan was offered the fight with former three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera, he went to pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for advice. Pacquiao and Khan are both trained by Freddie Roach and have trained together at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California. Pacquiao told Khan to accept the fight with Barrera, which takes place on March 14 in Manchester. Pacquiao has two wins over Barrera.
"Manny's beaten Barrera twice before and I talked to him about the fight and he said 'yes, you should take the fight, it will be a good fight for you'. He gave me some tips about being patient, not over-committing and not doing the stupid things I did in the Prescott fight," Khan told PA Sport.
Khan is trying to rebuild his reputation after being knocked out in 54-seconds last September by Breidis Prescott. Khan said that Pacquiao told him to get back on his feet and not worry about the loss.
"Definitely, that's what Manny said to me about my defeat against Prescott. He got knocked out before his 15th fight," Khan said. Manny is a great guy. I've done a lot of sparring with him. Going in (and sparring) with the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world has made me change my style a bit, made me more focused, more patient. And this is the level I'm at now, fighting all these world-class fighters."
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