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LONDON. — The fight between Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao was guaranteed to take place at some point from the first time the pair sparred together in October 2008 at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym, a hard retreat in the seedy streets of West Hollywood. Roach is a harsh man to hire as a new trainer and he threw Khan, who was fresh from a sixty-second knock-out loss, to Pacquiao as a sacrifice on the Bolton boxer’s opening day in the gym.

“People in the gym asked me if I was doing the right thing,” said Roach. “I was doing the only thing; I needed to know if Amir still wanted to be a boxer. I found out he did.” Khan will fight Pacquiao on April 23 after an online poll rejected an Australian called Jeff Horn as Pacquiao’s next opponent, and voted overwhelmingly for a fight against Khan. The fight is set to take place on a Sunday, which would suggest that either Macau, the gambling island a short boat journey from Hong Kong, or the United Arab Emirates is the location. Pacquiao, who is now 38 years-old, has fought twice in Macau, where it was thought he would be based after a lot of bold claims three or four years ago about the island replacing Las Vegas as the boxing capital of the world. However, Pacquiao’s last three fights have been in Las Vegas, including his disappointing loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2015. In theory, Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title will be the secondary prize to the cash available, which would mean Khan fighting back in a weight division that makes sense; Khan fought in May last year when he gained nearly ten pounds and lost to Saul Canelo Alvarez. — The Independent.