The two boxers who have given pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. an ultimatum this month to agree and fight them is now looking at the possibility of fighting one another.
Although Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has given Floyd Jr. until the end of January to agree to a deal and sign the contract in what is touted to be as the richest boxing bout in history, the Pacman has apparently started negotiations with Amir Khan while he in London.
Pacquiao was in London on Thursday and Friday to meet with Prince Harry and he decided to take the opportunity as well to meet up with Pakistani-born British boxer Amir Khan.
The New York Daily News reported that Pacman and his group met up with Amir Khan at the Fitzroy Lodge Amateur Boxing club in London.
Fallback option
Even at the height of his sustained challenge to Floyd Mayweather Jr. after a convincing victory over Chris Algieri in November 2014, the Pacman openly stated that if the fight with Money falls through, he mentioned that he would look for possible replacement opponents.
He mentioned Amir Khan as possible opponent for him among a few other boxers in the welterweight division.
The meeting between Pacquiao and Khan was reportedly informal man-to-man discussions about the possibility of the two of them getting together in the ring in the Fall in the event that Floyd Jr. does not respond to any of their challenge.
Michael Koncz, advisor of Manny Pacquiao, says that Amir is the best possible alternative opponent for the Pacman if the Floyd mega-fight does not come through.
An exciting fight
Koncz said that a fight between Manny and Amir would be a very exciting fight. While no details have been agreed yet pending the decision of Mayweather until the end of the month, the idea of staging the fight at the Wembley stadium in London also appeals to Pacquiao.
Pacquiao’s advisor added that they are also looking at the possibility of holding the event over at Abu Dhabi whose interest in boxing was highlighted when reports surfaced last month that an Arab group is interested in bankrolling the Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather fight.
The latest word from the Mayweather camp is that negotiation about the mega-bout between Pacquiao and Money is advancing but there are still issues to be resolved and settled. However, there are already reports that the Mayweather camp is already in the thick of negotiations for a Mayweather vs Miguel Cotto fight set for the Fall.
Given Money’s pronouncement, it is likely that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather fight would not be happening anytime soon.
At the end of the day, instead of the highly-anticipated mega-bout will just fizzle down to two fights – Pacquiao vs Khan and Mayweather vs Cotto.