Everything seems to indicate that the eventual fight between Britain’s Amir Khan and Filipino Manny Pacquiao has everything against it to see the light of day, even though this type of fight with retired fighters has experienced a boost thanks to the recent clash between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, regardless of the fiasco that resulted in the end.
And ‘PacMan’ remains very busy with his responsibilities in the politics of his country and to tell the truth, his most recent foray into a fight with kickboxer Rukiya Anpo last July, did not show much to excite either fans or potential investors, now that it is already known that Saudi Arabia is ruled out as a possible showcase for this fight.
The explanation is simple, Turki Alalshikh is not interested in this type of ‘nostalgic’ event when right now he has the upper hand with something much more lucrative such as the top division of professional boxing, the heavyweights that are almost exclusive to the Middle East.
“Turki doesn’t need us”: Amir Khan
Another explanation is that if we talk about the engine of an eventual fight between the two pugilists, it is only about money, and they practically offer nothing beyond the memory of their great careers in the ring. The problem is that the protagonists themselves know this and proof of this is what Khan told Prime Casino: “Turki would never accept that fight. It’s a shame. I don’t think Turki wants to do exhibitions or fights with retired boxers and he has such a good squad, he doesn’t need it.”
At 37 and 45 years of age respectively, Khan and Pacquiao will surely agree and set their terms, but first they will have to find a promoter and a venue – which they claim already exists and is very interested – in order to offer weighty arguments in order to increase a purse that is worthwhile to prepare much better than Tyson did and not end up disappointing the fans.