By Edward Chaykovsky

According to British star Amir Khan, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum approached him about the possibility of facing Manny Pacquiao in Dubai next year, after Pacquiao fully recovers from the shoulder injury that he suffered from his May 2 twelve round unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Khan was pushing to get Mayweather on the planned September 12th date at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather has taken a pass on Khan with Andre Berto appearing to be the frontrunner to get the bout.

Pacquiao and Khan were former sparring partners and stablemates under trainer Freddie Roach. There are conflicting stories on what took place in those sparring sessions. Khan left Roach in 2012 and hired Virgil Hunter.

Negotiations for the fight will be interesting, if they actually takes place. Arum's company and Khan's adviser, Al Haymon, are currently engaged in a legal fight. Several weeks ago, Top Rank sued Haymon for a laundry list of violations in connection to his Premier Boxing Champions series. 

“There have been talks of an Amir Khan fight in Dubai for many years now,” Khan said to The National. “Everyone knows my position: I am ready to fight if they are serious about it. Bob Arum has contacted my team to fight Manny Pacquiao around March or April in Dubai. Let’s see how that develops."

“Since Floyd is running scared, I want Pacquiao in 2016 when he is back from his injury; 2016 will be Amir Khan’s year; you will see me in two of the biggest fights in that year.”