A date of April 22 and then May 19 were put forward for the Manny Pacquiao vs Amir Khan encounter in the UAE, although the money promised by the backers failed to come to fruition. Arab money men had waved a possible $38m payment for Pacquiao v Khan under advisor Michael Koncz's nose but sceptical promoter Arum stated at the time the offer was 'too good to be true'.
Horn, the mandatory challenger, initially agreed to fight Pacquiao in Brisbane during the spring, with several dates and venues put on the table and taken off again. Pacquiao made it no secret he was rather nonplussed regarding a bout with Horn, although with time ticking away and no fight lined up, the Filipino Senator has been forced to accept.
Arum gave Pacquiao a deadline of Thursday to agree to fight Horn July 2 down under and it seems the eight-weight world champion will begrudgingly follow through to get the fight out of the way.
The collapse of a big money fight with Pacquiao is also a blow to Khan, who has now witnessed proposed encounters with Kell Brook and the pound for pound number two fall apart already in 2017. Khan is eyeing up a return to the UK, with the possibility of Pacquiao talks reopening for November should the Bolton man be successful upon his return from a crushing KO to Canelo Alvarez last year.
With Pay-Per-View numbers hitting all-time lows, it's doubtful a further delay would be of any help to Pacquiao v Khan if the contest eventually makes it over the line.
