Khan: Pacquiao the Only Obstacle to Securing Mayweather Bout

Amir Khan believes that it is between him and his former stable mate Manny Pacquiao as to who is handed the opportunity to face Floyd Mayweather on 3 May 2014 in Las Vegas.

Mayweather suggested yesterday that he would make an announcement about his next opponent in the coming weeks and both Khan and Pacquiao have been touted as possible contenders.

With Pacquiao recently returning to winning ways with a one-sided points win over Brandon Rios, Khan has not been in action since climbing off the canvas to defeat Julio Diaz back in April.

He was due to fight Devon Alexander but stressed that it was not his decision to pull out of the fight and is now looking to return to the ring against Mayweather, in what would be the biggest challenge of his professional career.

"I have been training very hard for the past 8-10 weeks. My next fight will be in May 2014, and I hope it's against Mayweather," Khan told the National. "My team are working to make this happen, but I am not focusing on it. My aim is to focus on my training and get as fitter and stronger as I can."

While Khan is confident that he will be in the running to face the five-division world champion, he admits that Pacquiao could stand in his way as the Filipino legend has an army of supporters who would be willing to buy the fight on pay-per-view.

"I am very grateful to have amazing support in Britain and among Asians around the world. I would say Mayweather, Manny and myself are the most popular boxers in the game. I mean, you can tell that from our Twitter followers. That says it all," Khan explained.

"I can say, there are only two fighters who can get in the PPV revenue, that is myself or Manny. I am fast, I am a kind of fighter Mayweather has never faced.

"It's not [just] me, but the whole world wants to see this fight happen, they want to see if Mayweather can stand in the ring and fight a fighter as fast as me or Manny.

"I am very confident that I can give him some real trouble. He defends well, but he has never defended against someone as fast as me. My hand speed and power will beat him."

Khan is clearly confident that he can become the first man to defeat Mayweather but it seems he would also be interested in facing Pacquiao, despite being close friends with the 34-year-old after spending a number of training camps together under Freddie Roach.

"Manny is a great fighter, he is a good friend, you never know, I never say no to anyone. If it's possible, I will fight Manny," Khan stated before once again talking about facing Mayweather.

"Mayweather is the top fighter, he is undefeated and I want to be the one to defeat him, and with my speed, I can cause him some real trouble. Now it's up to him and his team to come forward and set it up."