Arum only negotiating Khan fight for Pacquiao

Negotiations for a Spring Pacquiao-Khan fight seem to be heating up. Despite Arum stating there are five opponents on Pacquiao's shortlist for his return bout, he says he's only negotiating with Khan's people (sans Al Haymon) at the moment. Arum is still trying to iron out a more specific return date for Pacquiao, but suggests that it'll either be in late February or early April.

"March is out of the question because of a big college basketball tournament in the United States. That gets all the ink at the time. I'm in the process of having negotiations with Amir Khan's uncle and his lawyer, Robert Davis, and those negotiations are ongoing.

"I know there was a report that Khan was coming here to make a deal with Ruslan Provodnikov, but he ensured me that was not the case," said Arum.

Arum went on to provide his boxing promoter's code of conduct, stating he believes it to be unethical to negotiate with more than one opponent simultaneously, while also saying Khan is their sole target until those negotiations fall apart.

Khan, himself, has kept pretty busy globetrotting and getting into aid work with Syrian refugees, much to the chagrin of his trainer Virgil Hunter. To be clear, Hunter doesn't have a particular issue with Khan's charitable work, he just thinks Khan needs to be more dedicated to the gym and honing his craft if he's ever to reach his potential.

"If you're serious about your craft and serious about making a mark on the sport and being great then it's just a matter of time before [lots of travelling] backfires on you and there's only so much I can do for you," Hunter said.

"My job is to be honest with him and I am. And simply put, like I tell him, when you have the talent that he has, I'm not going to bite my tongue."

Whatever tension exists between Khan and Hunter can't be good heading into what would be the biggest fight of Khan's life - but Hunter does appear to only want to push Khan to be the best. Be that as it may, when your trainer is openly questioning your dedication to the sport, there should be at least some cause for concern.