Khan: I know I can beat Pacquiao

By boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao say they’ll be fighting each other next on in a match that could take place on April 23. The venue for the Pacquiao-Khan fight hasn’t been decided yet, but Khan is saying that it could take place in either Dubai or the UK. It remains to be seen which of the two places the fight winds up.

Pacquiao, 38, would be putting himself at a disadvantage if he agrees to fight Khan in the UK, but it might not be a big deal. Pacquiao will likely have a significant portion of the crowd on his side for a fight against Khan in the UK due to his huge worldwide popularity and his exciting boxing style. Pacquiao has a fan friendly style that the fans everywhere seem to like. As such, it might not be a bad idea for Pacquiao to fight Khan in the UK if the money is better than any other place.

“There’s a couple of locations we’re looking at,” said Khan via his Snapchat channel. “One if UK, one is Dubai and one is the USA. We should find out in the next few days. The fight is going to be for the WBO title and it’s a fight I know I can win. I know a lot about Manny Pacquiao,” said Khan.

Khan and Pacquiao both revealed on Saturday night on their Twitter sites that they had come to terms for the fight.

Pacquiao said this on his Twitter:

“Negotiations between team Pacquiao and team Khan have come to terms for April 23 bout as this is what the fans wanted. # PacqiaoKhan,” said Pacquiao.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum had been eagerly trying to put together a fight between Pacquiao and Jeff Horn, who he reportedly co-promotes. Arum wanted that fight. Pacquiao showed signs of not being on the same page as Arum though, as he recently created a poll on his Twitter asking the boxing public to select his next opponent.

Khan was the fighter the fans selected. Horn came in last in the fan voting. It’s unclear what Arum thought of the poll. It’s not so much the result of the poll that was important. What was important is the message that Pacquiao was sending by creating the poll in the first place. He obviously wouldn’t have created the poll if he was satisfied with the 28-year-old Horn as his opponent for April 23.

I think Khan should be less focused on winning the World Boxing Organization 147lb title, and more on just trying to win the fight. Even if Khan wins the WBO welterweight title from Pacquiao, it doesn’t mean he’s going to hold onto it for very long. The best thing that Khan would get in beating Pacquiao is a likely nice money rematch.

If Khan has to defend against someone like Jeff Horn, he might lose to him. I don’t rate Horn as a good welterweight compared to the other talents in the division, but he’s got a little pop in his punches. He might be able to stop Khan if he doesn’t get overwhelmed by his speedy combinations in the first six rounds.

The good news for Khan is Pacquiao hasn’t knocked out an opponent in the last eight years of his career. However, that doesn’t mean Pacquiao won’t get a knockout in this fight. Khan is a lot like Chris Algieri, who Pacquiao knocked down six times, and likely would have stopped if he didn’t show him mercy in their fight in 2014. If Pacquiao gets Khan hurt, he’ll likely stop him even if he shows mercy. When Khan gets hurt, he REALLY gets hurt, and doesn’t show good recovery skills.