It is no longer a secret that Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao are bound to slug it off next year as not only are they under the same promotions, but they have been negotiating for quite some time now too.

According to Top Rank CEO and promoter Bob Arum, they are planning to schedule the fight with Amir Khan as the priority and it will probably happen before March to avoid the NCAA March Madness.

"'We were planning for [Pacquiao] to fight at the end of February, or at the latest, the first two weeks in April,'" [Pacquiao's promoter Bob] Arum said on Sept. 27, citing Khan as the No  1 target," wrote Gareth A. Davies of the Telegraph.

"March is out of the question because of a big college basketball tournament in the United States. That gets all the ink at the time. I'm in the process of having negotiations with Amir Khan's uncle and his lawyer, Robert Davis, and those negotiations are ongoing."

He also debunked the possibility of Amir Khan facing Ruslan Provodnikov as the British boxer confirmed that no talks are happening between them.

"I know there was a report that Khan was coming here to make a deal with Ruslan Provodnikov, but he ensured me that was not the case," Arum said.

However, he pointed out that it is not a sure deal yet and the talks might come out unsuccessful. But the situation is leaning towards the fight happening.

"I'm not saying necessarily that the negotiations will be successful, although I believe that everybody is negotiating in good faith. While those negotiations are ­going on, I'm not going to discuss any other opponent for Manny Pacquiao."

"There is a possibility that it could happen in Dubai, but I think it's more likely it will happen in Las Vegas."