LONDON • Reports that Amir Khan has landed the ultimate fight of his career against Manny Pacquiao on May 20 were met with derision yesterday from the Filipino boxer's promoter Bob Arum, who called them "total and complete bull****".

"The Amir Khan story has come out of nowhere," Arum told The Courier Mail in Brisbane, home town of boxer Jeff Horn, who has signed a contract to fight Pacquiao on April 23.

However Mike Koncz, Pacquiao's legal adviser, said yesterday: "I'd prefer not to make any comments right now because there are a lot of undecided issues.

"Hopefully by mid-week next week we'll have a final (word) on everything."

Arum, who has been with Pacquiao almost since his arrival at Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym in Los Angeles in 2001, admitted final details of the Horn fight, originally scheduled for the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, were "up in the air".

He added his fighter was looking for bigger money in the United Arab Emirates.

"What's happening is that Manny is talking to these people in Dubai who have offered him an insane amount of money,'' he said. "Whether it is real or not real - he is determined to explore it to see if it has any validity.''

Khan is expected to announce his next opponent in the next few days for an April fight in the United States, and it is highly unlikely to be Pacquiao, who has tax issues there.

THE GUARDIAN