Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao will be fighting former training partner Amir Khan on May 19 in the United Arab Emirates, according to his adviser Michael Koncz. According to reports, the fight will take place either in Abu Dhabi o Dubai.
Word of Manny Pacquiao came following a meeting with Top Rank boss Bob Arum, as reported by Yahoo Sports. Previously, Arum announced that Manny Pacquiao would be fighting Jeff Horn in April—a fight that was supposed to be held in Australia. But after the announcement became widely criticized for Horn’s lack of name recall and pedigree, the Pacquiao camp decided to make the change.
“We decided to move it to May 19 here and May 20 in the UAE so we’d have time to promote it properly and make it a huge success,” Michael Koncz told Yahoo Sports. “I have to talk to both fighters to get them to approve going in May instead of April—I don’t think that will be any problem.” Amir Khan last fought in May 2016, losing via a sixth round knockout to Canelo Alvarez. Manny Pacquiao reportedly wanted to fight against a bigger name, and took to Twitter to ask fans who they wanted to see him fight next.
Amir Khan got 48 percent of the 44,815 Twitter poll votes, beating out Kell Brook, Terence Crawford and Jeff Horn. According to Michael Koncz, when he found out that 86 percent of the votes came from the U.S., that made a big difference in the decision to choose Khan as Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent. The Philippine Star reports that early oddsmakers have the Filipino as a -225 favorite, while Amir Khan is at +175. Unsurprisingly, Koncz said he thinks it is a 50-50 fight.
As noted by Yahoo Sports, one problem that the Manny Pacquiao – Amir Khan fight might face in terms of fan interest and pay-per-view sales, is that it will be following the Canelo Alvarez – Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight scheduled for May 6. The reported fight between Pacquiao and Khan will also be held on a Friday in the U.S.
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