IN this week’s edition of Boxing News Matt Christie addresses Manny Pacquiao vs Amir Khan in his editor’s letter. Here’s an exclusive extract:

AS is standard when Amir Khan announces a fight, there has been as much criticism as praise for the Bolton star’s date with Manny Pacquiao. And at the risk of feeling that wrath, it’s hard to think of a better matchup out there – stylistically speaking at least.

Admittedly, it lacks the significance of, say, Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko, but that doesn’t mean it has no value; far from it. While Pacquiao’s days as the sport’s leader are long gone, and he’s enduring that all-too-common decline that accompanies career tail-ends, the Filipino is not a shot fighter. He is arguably the best welterweight in the world, undoubtedly the most accomplished, and showed in his 2016 victories over Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas, that beating him easily is still only reserved for talent as rare and supreme as Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

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