Amir Khan Still Wants Fight With Boxing Legend: “It Would Be Massive”

Kristan Caryl2 min read
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Amir Khan Still Wants Fight With Boxing Legend: “It Would Be Massive”

Amir Khan still craves one last dance with a boxing legend.

Khan announced his retirement from the sport after his defeat to long-time British rival Kell Brook left his ledger with 34 wins from 40 professional fight.

His long and decorated career saw plenty of highs, from his Silver medal in the Olympics in Athens via unified world titles, but also some devastating knockout losses to the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.

Following the 6th round knockout loss to Brook in Manchester in February 2022, it emerged in April 2023 that Khan failed a drugs test and received a ban, backdated to April 2022, which means he cannot compete in any sport for two years.

The National Anti-Doping Panel accepted his claim of non-intentional ingestion, but used the rule of strict liability to still impose a sentence.

Throughout his career, Khan was very public about the fact he wanted to fight welterweight kings Floyd Mayweather and or Manny Pacquiao, though neither ever materialised.

Speaking to iFL TV, the man known for his lightning-quick hands gave an update on the chances of him fighting Pacquiao in 2024.

“Look, it’s a tough one because you get different things told to you. There is interest, Manny’s team want it, the Saudis want to fight in Abu Dhabi … It would be massive.”

Khan then admitted if it doesn’t happen soon it might never.

“If they’re going to leave it any longer, I might just have to forget it. You have to know what you’re doing. I’ve been waiting a very long time. Why I would say yes to a fight is I’ve been waiting a very long time, it’s a fight I’ve always wanted, he’s a legend of the sport.”

Finally, he said it was the only fight that would get him interested in coming back.

“A fight with Manny would definitely motivate [me].I think he would be perfect. We sparred a lot, we know a lot about each other. My last fight against Kell wasn’t the best fight to finish. I feel I’m a lot better than that.”

Khan has previously said he would love to fight Jake Paul, but now seems to have moved on from that.

Kristan Caryl

Kristan has been writing about music and sport for 20 years. He’s done cover features for the most influential music magazines on the planet, written books about the world’s top DJs and most celebrated clubs, interviewed footballing heroes and profiled Tour de France legends. He joined Boxing Social in the summer of 2023 as a news and feature writer.

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