As Floyd Mayweather continues to put everything on hold, Manny Pacquiao’s people are laying the groundwork for its Plan B and reports reveal that the Filipino is also being eyed to bring his act to Europe or the United Arab Emirates.
While Pacquiao is not yet pulling the plug on getting a May 2 faceoff with Mayweather, the fighter’s handlers are starting to act and they’re expected to buckle down to work as soon as it becomes official that Mayweather is fighting somebody else.
The possibility of a fight in the UAE is there as British star Amir Khan is deeply interested in facing Pacquiao there.
“I’ve told (my promoter) Oscar Dela Hoya and my team to organize a fight in Dubai,” Khan told The National newspaper last week. “I know Floyd won’t fight outside of Las Vegas, so I want the Pacquiao fight in Dubai.”
Khan defended the choice of the UAE as site, saying it will draw a large crowd.
“It’s the perfect place to fight: huge Filipino, Pakistani and British communities here and it will be big,” added Khan, who was in Dubai recently for some media gigs.
If a fight in the emirate doesn’t happen, another logical choice for a Pacquiao-Khan fight could be London.
However, fighting in the UK or the UAE has its share of problems owing to the time difference between the US mainland and Europe and the Middle East.
When it is primetime in England or the UAE, it will be already morning in the US and the massive time difference will have a major effect in pay-per-view sales, a major source of revenue for the promoter and the fighters.
Still, the leading candidate to land Pacquiao’s ring return will be the US with Las Vegas as the frontrunner.
But before the ball gets rolling, everyone is waiting for Mayweather to say something.
Mike Koncz, the Canadian adviser of Pacquiao, said he could be “right all along” in saying that Mayweather “is afraid” to fight his boss.
It’s not because Mayweather is scared of getting hurt but he is overly protective of keeping his unbeaten record intact.