Arum not calling Pacquiao-Khan a done deal yet

boxingnews24.com

By Chris Williams: While Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao are both saying that their April 23 fight is a done deal, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum isn’t ready to say it’s a done deal. What means for the Pacquiao-Khan fight remains to be seen.

Hopefully the Pacquiao vs. Khan fight gets made, because it appears to be attracting a lot of interest from the boxing world. The fans want to see this fight.

“Bob Arum not ready to call Manny Pacquiao-Amir King Khan done deal yet. Meeting with Pacquiao manager Michael Koncz Tuesday in Vegas,” said Lance Pugmire on his social media site.

Is the 85-year-old Arum still looking to match Pacquiao against Jeff Horn on April 23 in Brisbane, Australia? That was the fight that Arum was attempting to make before Pacquiao took interest in fighting the 29-year-old Khan. Pacquiao vs. Horn is a fight that would go over well in Australia, but it probably wouldn’t attract much interest anywhere else. Is this all Arum has to offer Pacquiao if the Khan fight fails to take place?

Pacquiao’s last two fights against Jessie Vargas and Tim Bradley were not big ones. It appears that Pacquiao is being matched against guys that aren’t great options for him to make big money. You’ve got Pacquiao fighting Tim Bradley, then Jessie Vargas and potentially Jeff Horn if the fight against Khan doesn’t go through.

What’s not known is if the Pacquiao-Khan fight needs the big $38 million purse for it to go ahead. There were reports recently that there a huge offer in that amount from someone in the UAE. If the money offer isn’t legitimate, then it puts the Pacquiao vs. Khan fight in limbo. It’s still a great fight even without the big money.

Eddie Hearn, the promoter for IBF welterweight champion, Kell Brook, has his doubts whether Khan will get the fight against Pacquiao. Khan feels that Hearn is wrong. The fight will take place. We’re going to see which of the two is right.

“I think Mr. Hearn doesn’t know what he’s on about when he said the fight is not going to happen,” Khan said on his Snapchat. “I don’t think Eddie even speaks to Bob Arum to quote the fight between me and Manny Pacquiao is impossible. So, Eddie, stop hating, keep your quotes to yourself and the fight between me and Manny Pacquiao is happening.”

Khan vs. Pacquiao might not be as big a fight as Khan-Brook, but it’s a fight that he wants. If they can get the money that was offered initially for the fight, it could be a huge fight for Khan.