Pacquiao eyes Khan for next year

MANNY Pacquiao won’t sulk even if he doesn’t get a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

He will resume fighting next year and he is ready to battle anybody promoter Bob Arum will pit against him in the ring.

“I’m OK. Whether there is a second (bout with Mayweather), it’s not a problem,” Pacquiao told the Associated Press Wednesday. “I heard he has retired, so it doesn’t matter.”

If Mayweather stays retired, Amir Khan leads the list of possible foes for Pacquiao next year. Next to Khan (31-3, 19 knockouts) are American Terence Crawford (26-0, 18 KOs), who is also under Arum’s Top Rank, and Briton Kell Brook (35-0, 24 KOs).

The unbeaten Mayweather beat Pacquiao in boxing’s richest fight on May 2, and after besting Andre Berto last week for his 49th win, announced his retirement.

Pacquiao is still recuperating from the arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder to repair a rotator cuff tear on May 6 in Los Angeles.

Khan told skysports.com Tuesday that there are ongoing talks for him to fight Pacquiao, whom he sparred with several times at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

Arum told boxingscene.com Wednesday that he has also added Argentine brawler Lucas Matthysse (37-3, 34 knockouts) and Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez to the list of Pacquiao’s probable opponents.

Marquez knocked out Pacquiao in their fourth showdown on Dec. 8, 2012 and announced that there’s no need for a fifth installment of their epic rivalry.

According to the AP, Pacquiao is also waiting to see if US boxing authorities will sanction Mayweather for taking an intravenous drip after the weigh-in for their (May 2) fight in Las Vegas.