THE first fight Jeff Horn ever watched was the Anthony Mundine-Danny Green multimillion-dollar blockbuster in 2006 but this morning he is likely to get the go-ahead for a Suncorp Stadium bout against all-time great Manny Pacquiao that will be the most expensive ever staged in Australia.
As Pacquiao?s promoter Bob Arum sat down with Horn?s backer Dean Lonergan in Las Vegas last night to thrash out the deal, Arum declared that as far as Pacquiao?s next fight was concerned: ?Right now, we are only looking at Australia.??
He said as soon as a ?conditional contract?? was in place he would fly to Manila, where Pacquiao is a prominent senator in the Philippines Government, to formalise the deal with ?The Pacman?s?? signature.
Horn?s hope is to have the fight before his home crowd at Suncorp Stadium but Lonergan said the fight would go to the city that made the ?best commercial sense?? with stadiums around Australia being considered.
Pacquiao?s Canadian adviser Mike Koncz has also raised the possibility of the fight being held in the Middle East, telling the Manila Bulletin newspaper yesterday: ?While Bob Arum has the authority to negotiate for Manny Pacquiao, we are also looking at the possibility of bringing the fight to the United Arab Emirates.??
Koncz said Dubai and Abu Dhabi were vying for the fight and ?the bottom line is we are looking for the best financial package for Manny??.
Arum wants Pacquiao to go on a world tour in 2017 and said if he won against Brisbane?s ?Fighting Schoolteacher?? he planned two more fights ? in Russia and England.
?We?ll see if Manny can do three fights this year and that would depend on the senate schedule,? Arum said.
Horn said Pacquiao had slipped ?10 per cent?? since the time he first saw him fight against Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 and is confident he can catch the 11-time world champ leaping in to fire his trademark salvos from both hands.
But Pacquiao?s strength and conditioning coach, Australian-born Justin Fortune said from his gym in Los Angeles that despite now being 38, Pacquiao remained ?a live dog??.
?Manny is still extremely quick, ridiculously quick,?? Fortune said, ?and he?s still an extremely heavy puncher.??
