Amir Khan stated his first priority was landing a fight with Manny Pacquiao despite a warning from promoter Eddie Hearn.
Khan defeated Samuel Vargas on Saturday night in Birmingham as UK rival Kell Brook watched on in the hope of landing the Bolton man next.
Despite Brook’s presence and Hearn stating the current super-welterweight has only one window to make 147, Khan was clear it was Pacquiao on his mind.
“I will take some time off, speak with Eddie Hearn and go from there. I want to fight again before the end of the year. I needed this kind of fight badly and I needed those 12 rounds.
“The only fight that works for me over Kell Brook is Manny Pacquiao. I want him, he is my number one pick. If not we go back to the drawing board and if it’s Kell Brook, it’s Kell Brook.
“I want Manny Pacquiao,” he reiterated when pressed.
Hearn had initially stated: “It has to be next,” when addressing the situation of a fight with Brook.
The former world super-lightweight king recovered from being put on the canvas yet again in his career to see out a dominant victory on the cards.
Khan came out of the blocks with bad intentions to drop Vargas in the second round. The Colombian then rallied though and put Khan down right on the bell before the end of the session.
In the third, Vargas touched the floor again but not as heavy and claimed to referee Terry O’Connor that he merely slipped.
Into cruise control, and not without the odd wobble here and there, Khan would eventually see out a 119-108, 119-109 and 118-110 triumph with the judges after twelve rounds.
During his post-fight interview with Sky Sports, Khan said: “What I really wanted to do was go the distance. I wanted to get the experience.
“There were times in the fight when I wanted to put him away, there were times when I could have pushed it and knocked him out.
“He caught me with an overhand right hand, right on the button, I got back up and I was fine.
“This is boxing and I’ve got to learn from those mistakes,” he added.
