Top Rank chief Bob Arum recently confirmed that negotiations for a match between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) and former two-time world champion Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) is officially ongoing.
The 83-year-old promoter said that the fight between the two former sparring partners will be scheduled sometime in late February or early April next year and it could either be held either in Dubai or Las Vegas, although the latter is the more probable choice, via Daily Mail Online.
"I'm in the process of having negotiations with Amir Khan's uncle and his lawyer, Robert Davis, and those negotiations are ongoing," Arum said, as reported by the Telegraph.
Arum declined to answer questions with regards to his other options for the Pac-Man, saying that it is "unethical" to negotiate with two parties at the same time. This indicates that Khan is indeed the number one choice of Pacquiao's camp and the fight is imminent.
"I'm not saying necessarily that the negotiations will be successful, although I believe that everybody is negotiating in good faith," the promoter added. "While those negotiations are going on, I'm not going to discuss any other opponent for Manny Pacquiao."
The 28-year-old Bolton native is a former student of Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, and the two used to spar with each other in training before their fights.
After consecutive losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia in 2011 and 2012, Khan dumped Roach for Virgil Hunter and ever since there had been bad blood between the Englishman and the seven-time Boxing Writers Association of America Trainer of the Year awardee.