Manila: Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and British fighter Amir Khan confirmed separately on Sunday that they would face each other on April 23 after weeks of conflicting reports.
Pacquiao tweeted: “Negotiations between team Pacquiao and team Khan have come to terms for the April 23 bout as this is what the fans wanted.#PacquiaoKhan”.
Khan, 30, a few minutes later posted on his official Twitter feed: “My team and I have agreed terms with Manny Pacquiao and his team for a super fight #pacquiaokhan #April23rd”.
Neither of them gave a venue for the match but a source in Pacquiao’s office said the bout would be in the United Arab Emirates.
Pacquiao’s American promoter, Bob Arum, has previously been quoted as saying on the ESPN that “Manny is trying to get a fight done in the United Arab Emirates, and the people there favour him fighting Amir Khan”.
Spokesmen for the World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion Pacquiao could not immediately be contacted for comment.
Pacquiao, 38, previously confirmed on Twitter that he was “in negotiations” to face Khan despite Arum’s own efforts to arrange a fight with Australian Jeff Horn in April.
Pacquiao tweeted on February 11: “See you in UAE for my next fight. #TeamPacquiao”.
He also posted a poll on his official Twitter feed asking his 110,000-plus followers to choose either Horn, Khan, American Terence Crawford or Briton Kell Brook as his next opponent.
Khan had been leading the poll when it was taken down.
Pacquiao announced a brief retirement last year but made a successful comeback against Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas in November, saying he still felt like a youngster.
Pacquiao had said he was retiring to focus on his new role as Philippine senator, after winning elections last year on the back of his sporting fame.
In Los Angeles, undefeated Deontay Wilder stopped Gerald Washington in the fifth round on Saturday to retain his World Boxing Council heavyweight world title.
The 31-year-old champion started poorly in front of hometown fans in Birmingham, Alabama, and was trailing on the scorecards when he sprang to life in the fifth round, knocking Washington down with a right-left combination.
Wilder, who won the title in 2015 with a unanimous 12-round decision over Canadian Bermane Stiverne, improved to 38-0 with 37 knockouts.
Despite being a fill-in opponent for Wilder, Washington gave the champ trouble in the first few rounds. Washington, who dropped to 18-1 with 12 knockouts, got the call after Wilder’s planned opponent, Poland’s Andrzej Wawrzyk, tested positive for a banned substance.
Wilder barely broke a sweat in the opening rounds as he threw just a handful of punches, mostly jabs.
He let Washington bring the fight to him, but in the fifth he landed a solid right to the temple of Washington and quickly followed it up with a left to the head that Washington tried unsuccessfully to block.
The victory sets the stage for Wilder to try and unify the heavyweight titles against rival champions.
Britain’s unbeaten Anthony Joshua and Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko meet April 29 in London for the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titles while unbeaten World Boxing Organization champion Joseph Parker of New Zealand is set to face Britain’s undefeated Hughie Fury on April 1 in Auckland.
