Friday 27 March 2015 13:08, UK
Amir Khan believes Floyd Mayweather will win ‘the fight of the century’ against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2.
The Bolton fighter was in talks about facing both superstars before they agreed to meet in their welterweight world championship unification fight at the MGM Garden Arena, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Khan told Sky Sports News HQ: “It’s going to be a great fight and I think five years ago it would have been ever better because they were both at their peak and it was a fight that everyone was dying to see.
“Since then Manny Pacquiao has had two defeats. He’s been knocked out once by (Juan Manuel) Marquez and then he got beat by (Timothy) Bradley which was a little controversial, but I think Mayweather will take the fight.
“He will be much smarter and he’ll pick his shots a little bit better. He’ll make it a little boring at times because Manny, as we know, is a come-forward fighter who likes to do a lot of punches.
“But Mayweather will try to avoid all those punches and just maybe throw that one shot that will count and then move away again. But time will tell.
“I’ve been watching Mayweather train on social media and he has been training very hard so he might come up with a different gameplan this fight, something that we have not seen before.
Mayweather will be much smarter and he’ll pick his shots a little bit better.
“He might put pressure on Manny Pacquiao to show that ‘look your pressure does not work against me’ so it’s going to be a good fight to see. But I favour Mayweather more because his style suits Manny Pacquiao.”
Khan and Pacquiao used to train together at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles and he reckons the Filipino needs to adopt a positive approach if he is to win the fight.
He added: “If Manny wants to really give Mayweather a run for his money, it’s all about putting that pressure on him, having that in-and-out movement and hopefully looking for that one big shot.
“Everyone knows that Manny can punch and Mayweather can he take that big shot? We have never seen Mayweather hit with a good shot so with Manny’s speed he needs to get in there, get Mayweather a little bit riled, get rough with him in there, push him around a little bit and throw them big powerful shots.”
Khan is currently training in San Francisco under Virgil Hunter ahead of a likely meeting with Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto later this summer.
He said: “I think Miguel Cotto’s a good fighter for me. Obviously styles make fights, he’s a very big name in boxing, everyone knows who he is.
“I think with my speed, movement and the way I have been fighting under Virgil Hunter, I think it will be a great fight for me. I know he is a lot heavier than me but doing that fight at catch-weight will be amazing.
“But at the moment we have just left everything with the managers and hopefully they can get everything sorted out and within the next week or so we can get something announced for hopefully towards the end of May.”
Fellow Briton Kell Brook is another likely opponent in the future for Khan with the Sheffield fighter set to defend his IBF welterweight title against Jo Jo Dan on Saturday night.
“That fight can happen in the future for sure,” said Khan. “Maybe towards the end of the year or next year – maybe a fight between myself and Kell Brook can happen.
“I am sure he is hopeful this weekend and then hopefully after that we can start talking to him. It’s a fight that boxing fans want to see and it’s a fight I’d like as well. So why not?
“Hopefully he gets past his fight, I get past my fight in May and we can get something on.”
Khan does, however, think it is unlikely that either of them will face Mayweather or Pacquiao in the near future.
He said: “In my opinion I think the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will be quite close and they might have a rematch and that could be the last fight for either of them.
“I could see that happening – this fight could be very close and they could go into a rematch.”
The cost of the Mayweather-Pacquiao event will be £19.95 and €24.95 across all forms of booking up until midnight Friday 1 May. From then on the cost will still be £19.95 / €24.95 if bookings are made via remote control and online, but will cost £24.95 / €29.95 if booked via the phone.
Please note an additional £2 booking fee still applies if bookings are made via a telephone agent. Cable customers please contact your operator for booking information.
