Pacquiao, Khan negotiating title fight

Manny Pacquiao announced back in January that his next bout would be a defense of his WBO welterweight title against Australian boxer Jeff Horn, but it appears as if plans may change.

In a message posted to his Twitter account Wednesday night, Pacquiao disclosed that he's in negotiations with former title holder Amir Khan.

Pacquiao's fight with Horn was originally scheduled to take place in Australia, however, he apparently would prefer a fight in the United Arab Emirates that could command more money.

"The Australian deal is not going to happen now, because Manny is trying to get a fight done in the United Arab Emirates, and the people there favor him fighting Amir Khan," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told ESPN's Dan Rafael.

The UAE deal hinges on securing $38 million from potential investors, although Arum isn't overly confident that will take place, according to Mike Coppinger of USA Today.

"I don't want to be saying this is going to happen, or not going to happen," Arum said. "When the money comes up, then I'll take a role in the promotion because I don't know these (investors).

"The money is very high, very considerable. I have no idea if they have the wherewithal to put this money up. Until they do I'm taking a hands-off approach. … Manny would be happy to do the fight if the money comes up. and I don’t have a lot of confidence that it will."

Pacquiao, the only eight-division title holder in boxing history, last fought in November when he beat Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision to improve to 59-6-2 in his career. Khan (31-4) is coming off of a sixth-round knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez in May.