Pacquiao vs Khan Was in Play Before Cotto Deal
By Mark Vester
According to Top Rank's Bob Arum, prior to reaching a deal with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, he offered WBA junior welterweight champ Amir Khan the chance to fight Manny Pacquiao. Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Arum says the offer was on the table but Khan's team felt it was too soon for the fight to happen and turned the deal down. Pacquiao will meet Cotto on November 14.
“Before we had signed with Cotto Amir’s name was on the table, we offered him the fight, but his father, and his family felt it was too early in his career. Amir Khan has all the attributes of a great champion, and I think he’s going to be a superstar in the sport,” said Arum.
“Okay, so he had a loss in his career, he made a mistake, but he looks great now. He was young when he made the mistake against the Colombian fighter [Breidis] Prescott. It was a great performance which won him the world title against [Andreas] Kotelnik, and you can only see him getting better. I can definitely see Amir and Manny meeting in the ring down the line.”
Pacquiao vs. Khan is an interesting fight for several reasons. They share the same trainer in Freddie Roach and the two fighters have often sparred at Roach's Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. Roach is close with both boxers. He said in several interviews that he would never allow the two of them to fight each other.
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingvester@gmail.com
