Manny Pacquiao Next Fight: Amir Khan To Be PacMan's Next Opponent In Return Bout?

Manny Pacquiao won’t fight again until 2016, but he could be close to choosing his next opponent. Amir Khan has been aiming to fight the Filipino boxer, and Pacquiao promoter and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is ready to make the bout a reality.

Khan had been hoping to fight Floyd Mayweather in September, but instead it’s Andre Berto who’ll get a shot at the world’s top boxer. Having missed out on a chance to step in the ring with Mayweather, Khan has turned his attention towards Pacquiao.

“This kid Amir Khan keeps shooting his mouth off about Manny Pacquiao. I can arrange for Khan to fight Pacquiao," Arum told The Telegraph.

"Amir Khan has been begging Mayweather for a fight and now he can get a major fight. I'm not a hard guy to deal with. I'm not going to mess them around," said Arum.

Considering Pacquiao and Khan are two of the best boxers in the welterweight division, a fight between the two would make a lot of sense. Mayweather has dismissed the idea of a rematch with Pacquiao, whom he beat handily on May 2.

Khan has been unable to earn a big pay-per-view fight, despite going undefeated since moving up from light welterweight. He’s won five fights in a row, including dominant performances against the likes of Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander. His most recent win against Chris Algieri, though, was a closer bout that many had anticipated.

Pacquiao won’t fight again in 2015 because of a shoulder injury he suffered while training for his fight with Mayweather. He’s coming off surgery in May to repair a torn right rotator cuff, but Pacquiao claims that the injury is now healed. Even though Pacquiao has suffered the injury during the tail end of his career, Arum says that Pacquiao will fight again.

Pacquiao’s last eight fights have been in either Las Vegas or Macau, China, but there's a chance that neither will host his potential bout with Khan.

"He'll fight early next year and probably in the Middle East. Vegas is a possibility, but more likely in the Middle East. It won't be in Dubai but it will be in the Middle East. If not, we'll do it in Vegas," Arum said.

"There's two different groups in the Middle East (wanting to host the fight). I'd like to do Pacquiao against Amir Khan but they'll take Manny against any decent guy."

Wiith a unanimous decision loss to Mayweather, Pacquiao has lost three of his last six fights. He had won 15 consecutive bouts prior to his controversial defeat to Timothy Bradley in June 2012. Even though Mayweather has said he plans on retiring after his next fight, Pacquiao insists that he wants a rematch.