Britain's top welterweight Amir Khan did not waste a second in sharing his take on Manny Pacquiao's one-sided victory over previously undefeated American Chris Algieri, saying the Filipino slugger indeed showed his repertoire of boxing skills sans the explosiveness that knocked out opponents five years ago.
Slated to fight Devon Alexander in a very crucial welterweight slugfest in December, Khan believed his former sparring partner did all the right things to dominate Algieri right from the opening bell. He added that Pacquiao improved a lot of aspects in his game, including his patience.
Then again, the Briton thought that Pacquiao's brilliance was just about it as Saturday's result at Venetian Macao in Macau, China only suggested the Pacman already lost the power punch that put to sleep so many great boxers before.
"Good fight for Pacquiao...he just boxed...it was good, easy fight for Pacquiao...I mean, Manny, I think he's hit his peak...he did improve in a lot of things...he was more patient...I'd love that fight if I could fight Manny Pacquiao...I think the explosiveness is gone," the two-time jr. welterweight champion said in an interview with Fight Hype.
Khan, who previously trained under the tutelage of six-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach, said that he remains intrigued of the possibility of mixing it out with Pacquiao.
Contrary to Roach's claim that Pacquiao always turned Khan into a punching bag during their sparring session, Khan stressed that he got the better of the Filipino in the later part of their training.
"I sparred Manny at his peak. He was hurting people...I used to start with him. I used to do like 5, 6 rounds at a time, 7 rounds at a time with him, and it was proper wars, man...we had really good sparring sessions...as time went on, I was getting better and better, and I was getting the better of Manny as well."
Khan's name has emerged as the possible option B for both Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. if both camps still fail to set the stage for much-awaited mega-fight of the century.
