Former Light-Welterweight World Champion Amir “King” Khan finally addressed the rumors of him being knocked out or dropped by Filipino ring legend Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao when they were both sparring at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles over a decade ago.
Stories of Khan and Pacquiao sparring have been around for a while. Some people claim that Pacquiao knocked out the British boxer and others claim Khan got the better of Pacquiao. It is all hearsay at this point since only a short video clip on YouTube of the two sparring is available and neither guy was badly hurt or dropped in the video.
The 33-year-old Khan went on social media to tell his followers that the comments about Pacquiao putting him down in sparring are ridiculous and false. He also said the sparring was competitive between the two.
“I’ve been seeing reports that I was put down by Manny Pacquiao in sparring which is not true,” Khan told his social media followers on rumors that he was knocked out by the 8-division world champion in sparring. “I have never been put down by Manny Pacquiao. We had some great sparring sessions. I always look back at the great times I had at the Wild Card boxing gym in Los Angeles. Manny was a great, great fighter and he still is a great fighter, we sparred and must have done three or four hundred rounds of sparring in total and I was never put down by him or hurt by him in anyway.
“We had some great sparring sessions. He is a southpaw, I am an orthodox fighter, and Freddie Roach was there as well. I am sure with all these comments people are making that I was put down are not true. I was never put to sleep or put down by Manny Pacquiao which is quite ridiculous with some of the comments I’ve been reading. Look no disrespect to Manny he is a great fighter and we had some very competitive sparring sessions. Toe to toe they were. At times he did catch me with good shots and I’d catch him with good shots.
Khan credited Pacquiao and Freddie Roach for helping him build his confidence back up after facing a shocking knockout loss to Colombian Breidis Prescott.
“I have to say I wanna thank Manny because he built my confidence back up when I fought Breidis Prescott in the UK, I then moved to Freddie Roach and Manny was one of the guys who helped me to get my confidence back to where it needed to be. It was just amazing to be in the ring with such a great legend and at that time he was getting ready to fight Oscar De La Hoya.
Khan who acknowledged that he has been dropped and knocked out in fights, insisted that he was never knocked out or dropped in sparring by Pacquiao or anyone else he has sparred with, and claims Freddie Roach and the trainers who witnessed the intense back and forth sessions with Pacquiao would vouch for him.
“He was already world champion and then moved up a couple weights and I was one of his main sparring partners at the time. At the same time we sparred with each other when I went to the Philippines, when he was going to fight Miguel Cotto, Margarito so I’ve sparred with Manny loads of times and like I said never was I put down in sparring. To be honest with you, yeah I been put down in fights but I’ve never been put down in sparring by anyone. In sparring I’ve never been put down. I think you can ask all the guys I sparred with or you can ask Freddie Roach or the trainers who were there present at the time. It’s just a bit funny when you read comments and people making things up that I was put down,” said Khan.
Khan has been adamant on his desire to face his former stablemate in the ring and would love for the chance to win the WBA welterweight title against the 41-year-old Manny Pacquiao and become a two-division world champion before he retires.
