JEFF Horn casts his eye around the vast cauldron of Brisbane?s Suncorp Stadium and imagines 50,000 people watching him beat world champ Manny Pacquiao on April 23 in the biggest fight ever staged in Australia.
Horn?s promoter will be in Los Angeles on Tuesday trying to sign a contract to bring the Filipino boxing icon to Brisbane for the biggest fight ever staged in this country and Horn can see himself overwhelming Pacquiao in one of the great upsets in boxing history.
Two problems. One: Pacquiao is still a formidable force who will take some beating and two: Brisbane has to find the money to pay for the world welterweight champ?s multimillion-dollar purse. Pacquiao, now a leading Filipino politician, wanted $20 million to face American Terence Crawford in April but will likely demand less for Horn, who despite being the No.2 contender for Pacquiao?s WBO world welterweight title is relatively unknown outside diehard boxing fans.
JEFF Horn casts his eye around the vast cauldron of Brisbane?s Suncorp Stadium and imagines 50,000 people watching him beat world champ Manny Pacquiao on April 23 in the biggest fight ever staged in Australia.
Horn?s promoter will be in Los Angeles on Tuesday trying to sign a contract to bring the Filipino boxing icon to Brisbane for the biggest fight ever staged in this country and Horn can see himself overwhelming Pacquiao in one of the great upsets in boxing history.
Two problems. One: Pacquiao is still a formidable force who will take some beating and two: Brisbane has to find the money to pay for the world welterweight champ?s multimillion-dollar purse. Pacquiao, now a leading Filipino politician, wanted $20 million to face American Terence Crawford in April but will likely demand less for Horn, who despite being the No.2 contender for Pacquiao?s WBO world welterweight title is relatively unknown outside diehard boxing fans.
?This is a dream come true,?? Horn said, ?and it?s a fight I can definitely win.
?Manny is a lot shorter than me and I fight well against guys who are shorter than me and who are coming forward.??
Horn said even though he has had only 17 pro fights compared with Pacquiao?s 67 the fight was not coming ?too soon??.
?I?ve got youth on my side,?? he said. ?He?s 38, I?m 28. He?s got the experience but I think he?s slipped a bit. He?s still got very good movement and skills but he has dropped form just slightly and that means a lot at the top level.??
Horn said he had expected to face former world champion Jessie Vargas before a Pacquiao fight late in 2017 but the opportunity to face the Filipino world champ came when a proposed Pacquiao-Terence Crawford fight was scuppered by Pacquiao?s promoter Bob Arum this week.
?Bob Arum seems to want the fight with me and Pacquiao now before Pacquiao retires. I think he sees it as a changing of the guard,?? Horn said.
?Pacquiao?s a fighter I?ve always looked up to. He was one of the reasons I got into boxing. I always loved the way he moved and the way he fought. He absolutely destroyed De La Hoya when I saw him the first time. I thought ?wow?. I didn?t really follow boxing then but I was amazed by him. It?s incredible that I could soon be fighting him here in this huge stadium.
?I would love to fight here at Suncorp in my own city and I know the crowd support would lift me.
?The roar of the crowd would be fantastic ? very motivating.??
Horn, still sporting a scar over his right eye from his last win over world No.8 Ali Funeka in Auckland on December 10, says Pacquiao and Englishmen Kell Brook remain the two most dangerous fighters in the division. He regards the Filipino as one of the top three fighters of all time.
?Pacquiao is a machine with what he?s done ? coming up from (light-flyweight 48kg) to be a world champ at 70kg and all the divisions in between. He?s a credit to his country and I?d say people who come to the fight would be coming to see him more than me. He?s a huge drawcard and he?s been a super champion for a long time.??
Horn?s trainer Glenn Rushton said the fight was a win-win situation for promoter Arum who has signed a co-promotion deal with Lonergan?s Duco Events to promote Horn worldwide.
?If Jeff wins Bob Arum has a world champ with a lot of miles left in him ? he has a great fighter for the next seven years who just beat a living legend. If Manny wins it?s business as usual. But I believe Jeff will win. He?s like a younger, stronger Pacquiao. He has the same deception in his moves, the angles, a very high work rate. They?re both hunters.
?It?s going to be a blistering fight. Two busy guys who can both bang and move really well.??
