Khan explains reasons for wanting Pacquiao next instead of Brook

Boxingnews24.com

By Tim Royner: After his win last Saturday over Samuel Vargas, Amir Khan says he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao next and not Kell Brook. Khan’s rationale for choosing the 39-year-old Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) for his next fight is because he’s a bigger name globally than Brook, who is mainly popular in the UK.

Khan (33-4, 20 KOs) wants a the prestige of facing a fighter that the worldwide boxing public knows about in Pacquiao rather than fighting Brook in what would only interest UK fans. It looks like Brook is going to have to wait a little while longer before he gets a shot against Khan because he has other options.

Khan almost didn’t get past Vargas (29-4-2, 14 KOs) last weekend in their fight at the Arena Birmingham, in Birmingham, Alabama. Vargas knocked Khan down hard in round two, and he hurt him badly at the end of round 10. Khan says he wasn’t hurt, but it looked like he was to the point where he might have been stopped if there was more time.

“If it was all about a paycheck, I would have taken the Kell Brook fight, because that’s a massive paycheck,” Khan said to IFL TV. “If you were a fighter which would you rather have Manny Pacquiao or Kell brook? I’m in the position where I’m at the same weight as him. He’s looking for a fight. I’m looking for a fight. Let’s make the fight happen. he fight would be massive because we’re both big names globally. The thing about Manny Pacquiao is it’s a massive global fight. I’m going to give it a week or two and see where I’m at. I’m going to meet with Eddie Hearn really soon and see what options he has or me. I’d like to fight at the end of the year,” Khan said.

Khan might be better off cashing out with the Brook fight while he still can rather than fighting Pacquiao right now. The chances of Khan beating Pacquiao are low based on what we saw of him last Saturday. If that was Pacquiao inside the ring with Khan instead of Vargas, he would have been taken out in the 2nd or 3rd rounds.

Khan has a good chance of fighting Pacquiao if his promoter Eddie Hearn can put the fight together. There’s no reason for Pacquiao to be afraid of taking the fight after the way that Khan looked against Samuel Vargas. Khan was on the verge of being knocked in two of the rounds.