Will it be Amir Khan or Lucas Matthysse who will face Manny Pacquiao’s return bout in early 2016?
Apparently there seems to be some confusion on who Pacquiao will really be facing once he returns in the ring in early 2016.
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Top Rank promoter and Pacquiao handler had initially mentioned that Amir Khan is the frontrunner to face the Filipino boxing icon but now it seems that he is also considering Argentine fighter Lucas Matthysse.
“I’m in the process of having negotiations with Amir Khan’s uncle and his lawyer, Robert Davis, and those negotiations are ongoing,” Arum was quoted of saying with the Telegraph towards the end of September.
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But now it seems that he could be adding Matthysse as well.
In fact, Arum is one of the personalities expected to be in attendance with the Argentine boxer faces Viktor Apostol for the vacant WBC 140-pound belt this coming Saturday at the StubHub Center in California.
Arum represents Apostol and did mention via Boxingscene.com that Matthysse stands as a possible opponent for Pacquiao in 2016.
Should Matthysse win over Postol, such could prove to be a big boost as far as getting a chance to fight Pacquiao which could happen as early as the end of February.
So has Arum backpedalled on his initial claims that Khan is the only target for Pacquiao in 2016?
Such seems to be the case with Arum saying that there are indeed ongoing discussions but (now) with an added line that “I wouldn’t say he’s (Khan) the frontrunner.”
As it turns out, there seems to be something more at stake this weekend than the WBC 140-pound belt and that is a chance to face the only eight-time division champion which could boost the stock of Matthysse if he does get the nod to face the PacMan in 2016.
Could Khan be shunned yet again?
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