Khan is bang on the Manny
Ring ace Amir floored by financial rip-offs
AMIR KHAN says his fight with Manny Pacquiao is still possible.
The British welterweight says the money is there for the clash to happen in the Middle East, despite reports that the £32m needed was not going to come.
He said: “People are saying the money in Dubai is not there, but the money is there.
“My team have spoken to the right people and they’ve shown the proof of it. I don’t know what the hold up is.”
Khan’s next move is likely to be a fight in America next month to shake off the ring rust after his defeat by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez last May.
The plan is then to face Pacquiao in November.
The Filipino fighter’s promoter Bob Arum said: “Manny would like to fight Amir. But I don’t think it would do all that well here in America.
“It might do well in the Middle East but they haven’t come up with the money yet, although we are talking to people. It could be the UK.”
AMIR KHAN has given himself two years to win a welterweight world title – after taking time out to sort his financial “mess”.
The former light-welterweight world champion admitted he had been repeatedly ripped off by advisers and had lost a chunk of his £40m ring earnings. Khan, 30, revealed how he had a “wake-up call” after a shake up of his team following his defeat by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez last May. And it means he is now taking control of his cash, along with wife Faryal Makhdoom. “I got a bill for a server for eight grand,” said Khan. “I thought, ‘Eight grand? What’s that for?’ “I emailed the guy back and he said, ‘That’s for the server in your office’. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m a fighter. I don’t need an office’. “Why would I need an office with a server? I’m the only person going in the ring but I’m paying server costs and God knows what else for an office that I don’t even need. My office is the gym. “It’s all old emails going back years. What do I need those for? I’m never going to look at them again. I don’t even look at my emails now! When you’re making millions, sometimes people forget about the little costs but they add up, man.
“How much have I lost financially? I don’t know. But there were good times and it’s only when you have these bad times that you realise the things going on around you.
“I should have got on to my things a few years ago when I was 21, 22 and made sure everything was right. I didn’t want to ever think about that.
Surgery
“I just assumed it would be going the right way. I had property advisers who used to rip me off, I had accountants who ripped me off. I changed everything. I’m going to be the boss now.
“I even bought my mum and dad a nice house, looked after everyone. I said, ‘I’ve done my bit as a son but I want to be myself now’.”
Khan, who has now fully recovered from hand surgery, insists he only has two years left in the sport and wants to win a world title at welterweight before he retires.
He added: “That is something that I want to win – one more world title before I call it a day.
“I give myself maybe two years left in the game, four or five fights.”