The 28 year-old from Bolton previously stated that talks over the Pacquiao contest had cooled off, although told a different story when addressing the potential blockbuster fight to the UK media on Tuesday afternoon.
“I am the front-runner,” Khan told BBC Sport.
“Manny Pacquiao makes a good story because we’ve been training partners and I’ve been with his coach Freddie Roach.
“There’s a big chance of the fight happening, it’s all about making sure my team is on point with the deal and they need to make sure they get the fight that I want.
“It would be Manny Pacquiao’s last fight and end his career in a big way, not like Floyd Mayweather where, no disrespect to Berto, but I think Floyd finished his career on a low note,” he added.
Pacquiao, 36, is set to bow out of the sport following one of most standout careers in recent times after winning world title belts at eight different weight divisions and earning a massive nine-figure check against Mayweather last spring.
Bob Arum revealed the date for Pacquiao’s swansong bout last week, although Top Rank’s Carl Moretti told WBN that four other opponents are in the frame to face the ‘Pacman’.
Terence Crawford, Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley and Kell Brook are all under consideration as Khan bids to seal the biggest fight of his life.
The friends to enemies angle would stir up more interest in any Pacquiao v Khan encounter at the MGM Grand and would certainly be a massive pay-per-view offering if a deal can be finalized in the coming weeks.
