Amir Khan may be targeting Manny Pacquiao and not Floyd Mayweather for next fight

Amir Khan says that he's still going to fight Floyd Mayweather one day in the future, but that he's not looking to wait around to land a big time fight, and that Manny Pacquiao may be next for him in late 2014, since Khan can't fight in September (when Mayweather is fighting) due to Ramadan.

From Sky Sports:

"I am looking at the likes of (Juan Manuel) Marquez and Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather - they are the big names and that is where I belong fighting the top guys. There are talks about Manny Pacquiao happening in the future - may be next. So I have left my team, Al Haymon and my team Khan Promotions to do everything.

"The fight between me and Floyd Mayweather is going to happen one day. As long as I keep winning and putting on great performances, it is definitely going to happen. But I cannot do September because of Ramadan. The next time that it could happen is in May. I can fight then so it could be Floyd's next fight after September."

Khan (29-3, 19 KO) rather handily and impressively routed tricky veteran Luis Collazo on May 3, fighting on the Mayweather-Maidana undercard. That was Amir's official welterweight debut.

Now, as for Pacquiao-Khan, here's the thing about this "the Cold War is over" business: It's not. Not yet. Yes, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy and Bob Arum of Top Rank are buddy-buddy for the moment, and that's a great step. But we do not know if Arum is open to working with Al Haymon and his fighters. Since the two are allegedly businessmen and boxing is, as you've been told thirty thousand times, a business first, you'd think these two wealthy, intelligent fellows could hammer out some deals for some money-making fights, but who knows? You'd have thought Arum and Schaefer could have, too.

The reality appears to be that Oscar De La Hoya has already done his bit by forcing Richard Schaefer out at Golden Boy Promotions. That was a big, big step. However, from here, Oscar is kind of irrelevant to the whole thing. He's only got so many fighters actually under contract, and most of the guys "on the GBP roster" are actually just with Haymon, and were fighting under the Golden Boy banner, a move Schaefer allowed to happen as CEO. Also, for as much as people are suddenly concerned about that business tactic, it was a pretty open secret for years, and nobody batted an eye then. Are we to believe Oscar De La Hoya was truly so clueless that he didn't know about something that I knew about? Me, just some nerd with a blog? I'm not even wearing a shirt right now. It's hot out, shirts are for capitalists.

Anyway, my ultimate point here is that the Cold War only ends when Arum and Haymon are doing business, and not a moment before. Anyone who thinks the Cold War was truly about Oscar's Golden Boy and Arum's Top Rank is putting on blinders in order to get excited about something that seems will inevitably let them down. When Haymon and Arum start making deals, then throw the confetti. Not a moment before. And I mean for bigger fights than Russell-Lomachenko or Martirosyan-Lara, too.

But all that aside, as I realize I just got a ramblin' on some nonsense boxing business crap, Pacquiao-Khan is certainly an interesting fight on paper. They know each other well, of course, having sparred together at the Wild Card for years. Freddie Roach -- whose word is pure solid gold, obviously -- says that Khan would hang in early but eventually get overwhelmed in those sessions. But sparring is sparring and fights are fights. There aren't millions of dollars on the line in sparring.

If it's possible for it to be made (a big if), would you want to see Pacquiao-Khan this fall?