Manny Pacquiao will not fight Amir Khan as he’d hoped on April 22
Manny Pacquiao will not fight in the United Arab Emirates as he’d hoped on April 22, and Amir Khan is now seen as an opponent who’ll have to wait until the second half of 2017.
Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that he has delivered a proposal with Pacquiao manager Michael Koncz that should be delivered to the welterweight champion in the Philippines in a few hours.
Arum said Pacquiao’s interest in pursuing talk of a $38-million offer to fight England’s former junior-welterweight champion Khan proved to be a quixotic chase.
“When they contacted me, I told them it was pie in the sky, that this is crazy, it’s not going to happen,” Arum said. “Manny wanted to roll the dice. He rolled the dice and it came up snake eyes.
“If something is too good to be true, it’s too good to be true.”
Arum said the “outlandish sum … made no sense,” adding that a Pacquiao-Khan bout could be revisited “with realistic numbers” in the fall.
“That deal is done for now. [Pacquiao and Koncz] were talking to the wrong people.”
Arum is now waiting on Pacquiao to respond to a new proposal for a bout that could be staged by July, against an opponent he declined to identify Tuesday pending Pacquiao’s review.
Arum said Pacquiao, who has a break from his work as a senator in the Philippines, wants to fight “as soon as possible.”
“Koncz will meet with Manny, and if he accepts it, we’ll go ahead. If he doesn’t, there’s nothing we can do.”
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