Manny Pacquiao’s representative, Sean Gibbons, responded to Amir Khan’s comments after both sides spoke exclusively to World Boxing News about a potential fight.
Gibbons first told WBN that eight-weight king Pacquiao would be interested in facing Khan, Conor Benn, or another big UK name this December in Manchester or London. WBN took that information to Khan, who ratified that he was still interested but held reservations about Pacquiao’s intentions.
Khan told WBN, “With Manny, you never know if one day he’s serious because we’ve been talking about this for such a long time. Look, if he wants it, it can be in London, it can be in Manchester. Wherever it is, it could be anywhere in the world, really, because both of us fighters are big names. We could do a fight, but I just feel that Manny is wasting everyone’s time.
“I just think he’s full of it, really. I just don’t believe it anymore,” he added.
Upon hearing Khan’s reply, Gibbons, the President of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, moved to reassure the Briton that the Filipino superstar wasn’t to blame.
“I can understand Amir thinking that because, not as much Manny, Manny would do it in a heartbeat,” Gibbons told World Boxing News exclusively. “It’s all the people that have been around both guys, Amir and him.
“We had Dubai and other places signing agreements, and then the money not coming through, so I can understand he is just tired of the rollercoaster up and down. However, that has nothing to do with Manny himself. If the proper amount of money were in place tomorrow, Manny would sign and fight – as Amir would.
“But the problem has always been the funding. It hasn’t been the fighters. So I don’t know if the funds are there or if anybody is interested or cares to do this in December in the UK, but the fighters, I think, would be ready,” he concluded.
Pacquiao took in the atmosphere at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night as he witnessed Daniel Dubois knock Anthony Joshua out. In front of 98,000 plus thousand UK fans, the boxing legend would undoubtedly have grown fonder of fighting on British soil.
Whether the Khan fight will happen is up to both sides to decipher. Gibbons told WBN he’d mention the clash to BOXXER head Ben Shalom while in England, while Khan stated he’d only return to the ring for Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather.
The opportunity is now in front of their noses to secure this high-profile battle in 2024 before Pacquiao cannot campaign professionally anymore and before interest completely wanes.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
