Amir Khan still holds a lot of respect for his old training partner Manny Pacquiao but is willing to put friendship aside if business opportunities come up.

Khan and Pacquiao famously shared some explosive sparring sessions in Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood but their careers never collided in the ring.

That could be about to change however.

Speaking to Fight Hub, Khan gave his reaction to Pacquiao’s recent stoppage win over Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia and also on possibly fighting Pacquiao:

“Manny is a great champion, he’s a great fighter. I think styles make fights. Me and Manny trained a lot together for a long, long in the Wild Card, going to the Philippines back and forth. Sometimes you have to put your friendship aside and you have to take it into the ring. I mean it would be nice to fight Manny. It would be nice to beat someone like Manny who’s a legend in the sport.”

He added:

“Manny boxed really well, he looked like his old self. Very focused, very ready, looked smart, boxed very smartly. Very good fight. He had a lot of power, I mean he knocked out Lucas Matthysse. Not many people can knock out Lucas. Lucas has a good chin, comes forward. He (Manny) boxed really well.”

Khan returns to action this weekend in Birmingham against Samuel Vargas. Should he win a fight against Pacquiao or Kell Brook is possible for December.