Manny Pacquiao has agreed to fight Britain’s Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan on April 23, in what has already been billed as a “super fight”.
The 38-year-old Pacquiao, who currently sits in the Philippine Senate, had revealed earlier this week that he was in discussion with Khan’s management for the clash, despite an earlier announcement that his next bout would be against Jeff Horn. (Read our report here.)
Pacquiao, however, had said that Horn was one of several possible opponents. The Australian welterweight’s dream fight was slated for the same date in April with Brisbane as a likely host, but the boxers hopes have now been snubbed out.
“Negotiations between team Pacquiao and team Khan have come to terms for the April 23 bout as this is what the fans wanted,” Pacquiao tweeted.
Pacquiao’s advisor Michael Koncz has also confirmed the fight, saying it will take place at an undecided venue in the United Arab Emirates and be broadcast on a pay-per-view basis.
The 30-year-old Khan, who won silver as a lightweight at the Athens Olympics, has not fought since last May when he moved up two weight classes to fight middleweight Canelo Álvarez.
The much bigger Mexican proved too powerful and the Briton was knocked out in the sixth round. He is likely to drop back to welterweight to fight Pacquiao, who holds the World Boxing Organisation title at that weight.
“My team and I have agreed terms with Manny Pacquiao and his team for a super fight,” Khan said on his Twitter page.
Pacquiao won the WBO welterweight title last November against American Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas with an unanimous decision.
A Horn-Pacquiao fight would have been one of the biggest in Australian boxing history, with the Queensland government keen to host the event.
Horn had released a video on Sunday, cut with excerpts from Donald Trump speeches, calling on Pacquiao to make a fight happen in Brisbane, where he claimed the money on offer was “real” and already in place.
What is certain is that April 23 will be a quiet night for police.
As we describe here, during Pacquiao’s fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr in May 2015, there were no recorded crimes within Metro Manila whatsoever. The same phenomenon was noticed during his fights against Chris Algeiri in 2014 and Juan Manuel Marquez in both 2008 and 2011.