Manny Pacquiao vs. Amir Khan would be fucking magnificent.
Styles make fights, people. Pacquiao’s speed and power plus Khan’s fast hands and penchant for leaving himself open to getting clipped equals one of the most compelling fights to be made in the sport of boxing.
The time is now for Pacquiao vs. Khan.
To his credit, Khan has long lobbied for the fight. Despite the limited nature of his skill set, Khan is the type of fighter who always seeks the biggest fights against the best challengers. It’s how he got whacked by Canelo Alvarez in 2016 and how he tried to get the same treatment from both Floyd Mayweather and Pacquiao for what seems like forever now. It’s time for Khan’s dream to become a reality.
Pacquiao is at the point in his career where he needs the right kind of matchmaking to put him in both compelling but also winnable fights against notable opposition. No other fight checks all those boxes quite so well.
Pacquiao is one of the best fighters ever. But he’s not close to what he was at his peak, and fighting other top welterweight stars in 2018 such as Terence Crawford or Errol Spence would probably too much for the 39-year-old Filipino to handle. That isn’t to say it’d be impossible for him to win those fights. Pacquiao’s unique combination of speed, power and awkward attacks are a formidable problem for any fighter to solve. But Pacquiao would be an underdog against Crawford and Spence and rightfully so.
Why send Pacquiao into a fight were he’s too small and too old to have a fair chance?
Pacquiao fights at welterweight these days, but it’s not his natural weight. Crawford and Spence are naturally larger, possibly even great fighters competing in the prime of their careers. Pacquiao’s already won enough fights against those types over the years. There’s no need to chase more legacy shaping opportunities. Pacquiao’s is forever secure. He’s won like a billion world titles in 106 different weight classes. He doesn’t need those kinds of fights.
What purpose would they serve?
But fighting Khan would be an awesome matchup between two of the most popular fighters in the sport. Pacquiao would be the betting favorite. He’s just too good at what he does to be anything other than a legitimate threat to stop Khan before the end of a fun fight. But what a fun fight and oh how it would be epic.
Khan catches some flack from fight fans sometimes for being chinny. But shouldn’t he be given credit for fighting in such an aggressive manner? Isn’t that’s why his chin is there to be hit in the first place? Khan has fast enough hands to keep most of the opponents he fights at the end of his punches so long as he doesn’t throw more than one or two at a time. But that is never what Khan does. He throws blazingly fast combinations and always gives a great effort. Khan doesn’t just fight to win. He fights to win convincingly.
Let me put it this way. It’s almost impossible for Khan to be in a bad fight. If he has a fighter in front of him he can hit at wil, he does it. If he doesn’t have a fighter like that in front of him, he still tries to do it anyway. That’s beautiful. Khan has never reached the same crazy insane level of elite awesomeness Pacquiao has, but few fighters in the history of the sport have done that. Khan is one hell of a fighter who fights his butt off for 12 rounds of every fight (or however long he’s standing) and either delivers action-packed wins or gets gloriously trucked for trying it.
Khan fights like every man should live life. He uses his talent and ability to its utmost potential and he shoots for the stars. Some fighters try not to lose. No Khan. If so, his win-loss record would be better and we wouldn’t have seen his soul briefly knocked out of his body so many damn times. But instead he does what every red blooded professional fighter should do once the bell rings on fight night. He tries to win. and he tries to do it gloriously.
Face it. Pacquiao vs. Khan would be dope. Neither fighter really has a better, more compelling fight to seek at this point in their careers and both are in promotional situations that would allow the fight to happen.
So forget the noise. Admit the truth. Pacquiao vs. Khan is the fight to want. Pacquiao vs. Khan is all that matters.
