BBC SportsBritain's Amir Khan believes he will be ready to fight American great Floyd Mayweather within a year.
And Khan says he has the backing of sparring partner Manny Pacquiao, who was set to fight Mayweather this year before negotiations broke down.
Khan, 23, defends his WBA light-welterweight crown against Argentina's Marcos Maidana on 11 December. "Manny thinks it will be a good fight because he's trained with me, sparred with me, he really thinks I'm good enough to fight Mayweather now.
"But I think in the next 12 months, when I get even better and with more experience, I think I'll be in better condition to fight him then.
"This is a timing game and I want to fight him when I think I'm ready, not when he's ready and I'm not. I want to fight him when we're both ready and when I've hit my peak."
Khan has regularly sparred with Philippine superstar Pacquiao since joining up with the same trainer, Freddie Roach, following his knockout at the hands of Breidis Prescott in September 2008.
Since then Khan has moved up a division, won the WBA belt and defended it twice, last time out against Paulie Malignaggi in New York in May.
However, the 27-year-old Maidana has 27 knockouts from 29 fights and is likely to pose greater problems than the light-punching American.
Apparently this has not prevented five-weight world champion Pacquiao from encouraging his friend to dream of a possible match with Mayweather, while Khan says his American promoters are also keen to see the fight happen.
"Richard Schaefer [chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, who also staged Mayweather's most recent fights] says it's a fight of the future," said Khan.
"It's a fight he wants to see made and he thinks I've got the style to beat Mayweather. He says he hasn't said that to many people."
Talks between Pacquiao and Mayweather broke down in January after Pacquiao refused Mayweather's demands for random blood and urine tests.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
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