PacquiaoKhan
The British tabloids love a good dust up especially if it involves family members. So when Freddie Roach suggested that Amir Khan should move to welterweight down the road and mentioned Manny Pacquiao in the breath, some of the Brit papers went wild.
Amir Khan could be just one fight away from a showdown with his friend and hero Manny Pacquiao. [...] Roach wants Khan to step up if he beats [Timothy] Bradley and feels world pound-for-pound king Pac Man (right) would be a natural opponent in a blockbusting fight to end 2011.
The legendary trainer explained that his quote was taken out of context. Roach clarified his statement to The Telegraph's Gareth A. Davies
"I had said that I wanted Amir to clean out the light-welterweight division and then step up to face the best in the welterweight division, fighters like Manny Pacquiao," Roach said. "It was said in a tongue-in-cheek way, and that should have been obvious. I would never want them to fight each other. And I can never, ever see that fight happening."
Roach said there is another top dog at 147, he would like to see step in there with Khan.
"Amir looks up to Manny and respects him so much I could never see them fighting. But as I say, I have two boxers who I train who could beat Floyd Mayweather. One of them is Manny Pacquiao. The other is Amir Khan."
Khan is tentatively scheduled to face Bradley on July 23. Khan's promoter Golden Boy set today as the deadline to finalize the fight. Bradley is unhappy with his promoter Gary Shaw and the current $1.3 million offer on the table.