• Welterweight

Khan to turn to Brook if Floyd-Pacquiao goes ahead

Amir Khan has made no secret of his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao © Getty Images

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Amir Khan has revealed he would be open to a fight with Kell Brook - but not until the end of the year at the earliest.

Brook is scheduled to make the first defence of his IBF world welterweight title against Canadian Jo Jo Dan on March 28, and Khan admitted he would prefer to return to the ring in May rather than a June bout with his fellow Briton.

Khan is still hoping for a matchup with either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, should the pair's £165 million fight on May 2 fall through, with American Tim Bradley another possible opponent.

"With Mayweather he wants to drag it on as long as possible," Khan said. "I'm sure he's been training a little bit and whoever I fight in May, I am back in training on Friday.

"I'm fighting in May, so Kell probably wouldn't be ready in May but I would love to fight him at the end of the year. It's a big fight even if it isn't as big as me against Manny or Floyd.

"A fight between me and Kell has been talked about for a long time. It would bring a lot of money for him to fight me. But he's my third choice. You know who the first two are: Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao."

Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn previously doubted whether Khan would want to fight the Sheffield welterweight in the summer and admitted delaying the bout until the end of the year would rule out Wembley as a venue.

"We were looking at Wembley in June but the problem with Khan is I'm not sure he can do that because of Ramadan," Hearn said. "He will have to fight in May or early June but I'm not sure Kell can do that because he's fighting on March 28.

"I'm not too optimistic. We are now turning our attention to Juan Manuel Marquez, Marcos Maidana and Tim Bradley because we want Kell Brook in a pay-per-view event this summer, June or July, at Bramall Lane.

"We can't wait for Amir Khan. Amir might end up fighting on the May 2 undercard in Las Vegas instead. Fighting at the end of the year rules out having it somewhere like Wembley."

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