Pacquiao vs Khan deal ‘dead,’ according to Arum

Those hoping for a May 19 fight in the United Arab Emirates between Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan are in for some bad news, as Top Rank promoter Bob Arum — who was not involved in the deal that he was skeptical of from the get-go — told ESPN that the fight deal was dead, and that Pacquiao won’t be facing Khan next.

On Tuesday Arum told ESPN that the UAE deal for Pacquiao-Khan was dead, that Pacquiao won’t face Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) next and that Koncz was on his way back to the Philippines to tell Pacquiao that the $38 million was nothing but a fantasy.

“Michael is on his way back to meet with Manny but it’s kaddish for the UAE deal. It’s dead,” Arum said. “I’m talking to him about another proposal for another fight, not Khan. Khan won’t be Manny’s next opponent.”

Arum had previously worked out a deal for Pacquiao to face Australia’s Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KO) for Pacquiao’s WBO title, and that might be the backup plan in play.

Are you remotely surprised that, once again, the fantasies of a big fight in Dubai or Abu Dhabi have seemingly fallen apart?