Khan’s name has been included in Bob Arum’s shortlist of possible opponents of Pacquiao when he returns to the ring on April 9 for his farewell fight. The list also includes the names of Timothy Bradley and Terence Crawford.
Arum admitted he doesn’t prefer Khan to be Pacquiao’s next foe, but he can’t do anything if Pacquiao chooses him over Bradley and Crawford,
“I purposely kept myself out of it because at this point it doesn’t matter who Manny picks,” Arum told ESPN.
“Would I prefer it not to be Khan? Yes, but this is Manny’s last fight. I have a duty to him to present him all of the options. Do I hope he doesn’t pick Khan though? Of course [because I don’t promote him], but I don’t think he will pick Khan.
“Khan was an option when we considered having this fight in April in the Middle East, so he was a guy on the table. Now the Middle East is not on the table, but he’s still one of the guys on the table,” Arum added.
One of the reasons why Khan will likely be left out of the equation is that he isn’t one of Arum’s fighters at Top Rank. Khan is being handled by Al Haymon, who is a respondent in a lawsuit that Arum filed in court in connection with Haymon’s alleged illegal activities under the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
From Arum’s statement, it appears the choice of opponent for Pacquiao’s farewell fight is now between Crawford and Bradley, who are stablemates at Arum’s Top Rank Promotions.
Unless Floyd Mayweather suddenly gets out of retirement and accepts Pacquiao’s rematch challenge, the search for Pacquiao’s next foe will end with the choice of either Bradley or Crawford.