Khan nears fight deal with Pacman

WORLD Boxing Council welterweight Silver champion Amir Khan said he’s on the  verge of finalizing a showdown with former sparring partner and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao.

Both Pacquiao and Khan trained under Freddie Roach at his Wild Card Gym some years ago.

Khan believes a Las Vegas showdown will take place in early February or in April.

The Silver champion, who is on a visit to India to take a break from negotiations for a Pacquiao fight, which he has left to his team to handle, was quoted by Boxing Scene as saying: “Talks are going really well. They (Manny’s team) is speaking to my team. I’ll fight anybody, who is brought in front of me. If it’s Manny Pacquiao, it’s Manny Pacquiao. If not him, somebody else.”

Khan said he was still waiting for a response on what’s going to happen.  

However, Nick Parkinson reported that Khan hopes an announcement could be made in a few weeks.

Khan recently beat Chris Algieri, while Pacquiao hasn’t fought since his May 2 loss to undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

In that bout, Pacquiao claimed he aggravated a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder and underwent surgery from which he has reportedly recovered well and continues to play basketball in  the Philippine pro league, the Philippine Basketball Association.

Parkinson quoted Khan, who said: “I can confirm that my team has been negotiating with Bob Arum and so far everything is going smooth.”

Khan added: “The contracts are being negotiated and if everything is agreed, Manny Pacquiao will be my next opponent. Depending on when he and his team feels he could be ready, the fight could be in February or April. They have not gone into specifics as yet, but it’s a pay-per-view fight and it’s going to be global.”