Manny Pacquio is taking his sweet time in naming his next opponent for his upcoming fight, although Amir Khan might be off the table.

Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed as much in an interview with The Telegraph as he said that Amir Khan is not in the shortlist of Manny Pacquaio's opponents for his next fight.

Instead, the British fighter will fight Kell Brook, the IBF champ, who will have to defeat first Kevin Bizier of Canada in the early months of next year. Amir Khan is also expected to have a fight with a still unnamed fighter during that time.

"Khan is not getting the Pacquiao fight. We are talking of a summer fight between Kell and Amir and I'm very hopeful of getting the fight signed," he said.

Mike Koncz, the adviser of Manny Pacquiao, told World Boxing News they are not in a rush to name his next opponent for his April 9 fight as it is still a long way off.

"We are not giving a strict timetable. I can't tell exactly when because the fight's in April (anyway)," he said.

Top Rank boss Bob Arum, meanwhile, hinted that they might not name the opponent of Manny Pacquiao's next fight until the end of December.

"Top Rank chief Bob Arum had initially wanted Pacquiao to name his foe during a live broadcast of a fight in San Juan, Puerto Rico, over the weekend, but he had to scrap it at the last minute as the eight-division titleholder hasn't made a decision," the website explained.

The LA Times claimed that Timothy Bradley is the forerunner in Manny Pacquiao's next fight.

"The World Boxing Organization welterweight world champion from Cathedral City was impressive Nov. 7, defeating Brandon Rios by 10th-round technical knockout," it said.

"Unbeaten junior-welterweight champion Terence Crawford is also in consideration after Arum's talks with Pacquiao's former stable-mate and former junior-welterweight champion Amir Khan crashed."

Aside from Tim Bradley and Amir Khan, other names floated for Manny Pacquiao's next fight were Adrien Broner and Terence Crawford.