Now that Amir Khan vs Manny Pacquiao is official attention has quickly turned to the April 23rd fight – which is a lot quicker turnaround time than many expected.
Usually in the world of big fights, they tend to need endless months of promotion and time of negotiations before they get made.
However refreshingly in this case, both Khan and Pacquiao announced the fight on February 25th ahead of March 23rd, which breaks this modern day pugilistic business mould.
Two friends who are also former sparring partners.
They worked closely together under Freddie Roach during Khan’s time at the Wildcard Gym a few years back.
Khan has since moved on from Roach but he spent a considerable amount of time at the gym working with Pacquiao.
So both men know how each other fight very well.
Often times in boxing history when this happens it can create an excellent fight.
The sparring footage of the pair on YouTube alone a few years back made for entertaining viewing:
But sparring is sparring and a lot of time has passed since.
A lot has happened for both men.
Pacquiao was involved in the biggest financial fight in boxing history, that proved to be underwhelming in the ring, and now has significant duties as a full-time politician.
Khan has been brutally knocked out since – most recently at the hands of Canelo Alvarez in May 2016.
But the timing for this fight could be spot on.
Carl Froch mentioned here this week that he believes Pacquiao is past his best, which is most likely true, but I think he still has enough about him to compete with most of the top welterweights out there.
His last win over Jessie Vargas in November 2016 showed that in it’s ease I thought.
As Pacquiao essentially took the fight during a time he was working a full-time job as a Filipino Senator while winning comfortably.
The refreshing thing about this fight in my opinion is that it has been made within two months of fight night – not the extended and tedious period of negotiations and politics that usually accompanies the making of a big fight in boxing.
Kudos to both teams for that.
Amir Khan vs Manny Pacquiao who wins? Let us know on social media what you think.
