By Edward Chaykovsky

Retired former super middleweight champion Carl Froch is picking Amir Khan to do a job on ex-sparring partner Manny Pacquiao - if the two of them ever face each other in the ring.

Pacquiao was expected to announce his April 9th opponent last night, but held off on that decision until a later date.

Industry insiders believe he will face WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley in a trilogy fight. Bradley is still viewed as the frontrunner, but Khan and undefeated WBO 140-pound champion Terence Crawford are the other two fighters in the running.

Khan and Pacquiao were training partners when they were both trained by Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California. Khan broke away from Roach in 2012 and hired Virgil Hunter.

Froch seems very confident about Khan's ability to beat Pacquiao and do it convincingly.

"I think Amir Khan does the job, I think he’s too young, fresh, he’s got a high work rate. As long as he doesn’t walk into a shot, he will be okay. Even if he does walk into a shot, I don’t think Pacquiao is the man he used to be, he’s been beat a couple of times now and he lost a fight which was pretty much a no contest against Mayweather," Froch told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

"Pacquiao’s value to me has dropped, even though he will always be a big name and he will always have some value when he fights. I think with that fight against Mayweather, it’s almost time to hang his gloves up, dare I say. But if he wants to keep fighting and carry on, then he’s well within his right to do that. Me as a boxing fan, it’s not a fight I’m excited about. His performance against Floyd Mayweather was so weak, it’s just not an exciting fight for me. I think Khan does the job and does the job well."