AMIR Khan insists while his spars with Manny Pacquiao were must-see, rumours that he was regularly floored by the Filipino great are wide of the mark.
The duo trained together under the watchful eye of legendary cornerman Freddie Roach and shared hundreds of rounds behind closed doors at his famous Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
Some in attendance though have recently hinted that Pacquiao dominated Bolton’s former unified world super lightweight champion, a notion the Olympic silver medallist dismisses.
Talk about the pair has been big business for several years with Khan having long wanted a fight with the eight-weight world champion who is still riding high at the top of the sport at the age of 41.
“I’ve been seeing reports that I got put down by Manny Pacquiao in sparring, which is not true,” Khan told World Boxing News.
“I have had some great sparring sessions.
“I always look back at the times I had at the Wild Card Boxing Gym in Los Angeles. Manny was a great fighter and still is a great fighter.
“We must have done 300 or 400 rounds of sparring, and I was never put down by him or hurt by him in any way. We had some great sparring sessions.
“I was never put down or put to sleep by Manny Pacquiao. It’s ridiculous some of the comments I’ve been reading. Look, no disrespect to Manny. We had some very competitive sparring sessions.”
Khan has spent much of his time during lockdown doing work through his charitable foundation, helping those in need.
As for boxing, the 33-year-old’s next move is not clear. He has regularly spoken of his desire to be involved in a couple more big fights, a battle of Britain with Kell Brook and a rematch with Danny Garcia mentioned.
Khan does not want to fight without fans in arenas though and has admitted that the longer the coronavirus pandemic drags on, the more difficult a ring return becomes having last fought in victory over Billy Dib in Saudi Arabia nearly 12 months ago.
Elsewhere, Eddie Hearn is set to announce his plans for ‘Fight Camp’ series today which will see events taking place in the grounds of Matchroom Boxing’s HQ in Essex.
Jack Cullen’s clash with Jason Quigley is expected to be among the fights confirmed. Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver will be looking for a big win that could set up a rematch with Felix Cash, Cullen stopped in the eighth round of their pulsating meeting last November.
Rival promoter Frank Warren has already announced his first behind closed doors show will take place on July 10.
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