Manny Pacquiao could eventually face his former stablemate and sparring mate when he makes his return to the ring next year.
Amir Khan told ESPN that his rumored showdown with Ruslan Provodnikov in November is not true. He revealed that they did not agree to the fight because they are in talks for a showdown with Pacquiao.
"We going for Pacquiao. In talks," Khan told Dan Rafael of ESPN.
Pacquiao and Khan are good friends because they trained together before when the British boxer was still under Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.
Khan, who holds a 31-3 record with 19 knockout victories, has been chasing Floyd Mayweather over the past several months, but he was snubbed anew after the reigning pound-for-pound king decided to face Andre Berto on Saturday.
After getting snubbed again, Khan shifted his focus to Pacquiao and he might get what he is asking for. Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum also said earlier this year that they are also open to arranging a showdown between Khan and Pacquiao next year.
Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, said that they want to arrange the showdown because Khan has been talking a lot over the past several months about a possible fight with Pacquiao.
"This kid Amir Khan keeps shooting his mouth off about Manny Pacquiao. I can arrange for Khan to fight Pacquiao," Arum said. "Amir Khan has been begging Mayweather for a fight and now he can get a major fight. I'm not a hard guy to deal with. I'm not going to mess them around."
Khan is under influential advisor Al Haymon, who is not in good terms with Arum. However, Arum said that he is not talking to Haymon because he is directly negotiating with Khan and people close to him.
Khan, who is coming off a unanimous decision win against Chris Algieri in May, confirmed Arum's statement and added that Haymon is not against a showdown with Pacquiao because he wants the best for his fighters.
"We deal with Top Rank," Khan said. "Al is cool with it if it makes sense for his fighter."
It remains to be seen, though, when the fight will be scheduled since Pacquiao is still recovering from the shoulder injury he sustained while training for his fight against Mayweather in May.
