JEFF Horn against Floyd Mayweather at Suncorp Stadium in 2018.
That remains a major goal for Brisbane?s world welterweight champion who now wants the biggest fights on offer after defeating Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp on July 2.
Promoter Bob Arum is due to fly from Las Vegas to the Philippines next week to meet with Pacquiao to assess his willingness to exercise the rematch clause in the contract to fight Horn.
Arum has mentioned the possibility of the 67kg Horn facing another American world champ, Terence Crawford (63kg), at the end of the year if Pacquiao passes on the opportunity to regain the World Boxing Organisation welterweight title. Jeff Horn and Manny Pacquiao slug it out in Brisbane. Picture: AFP
While the Pacquiao rematch deal calls for the bout to be in Brisbane it could be mutually agreed between all parties to host the fight at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, which can accommodate 56,000 people under cover.
Brisbane?s biggest indoor venue ? given Queensland?s stormy summer rain season ? is just 14,000 at the Entertainment Centre.
Horn remains hopeful that he can lure Mayweather into another bout next year after the undefeated American fights UFC star Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on August 26.
?I want the biggest fights I can get,?? Horn said, ?and Mayweather is the biggest.?
?I realised my dream to become a world champ and now I want to cement my legacy in the sport by beating as many of the big names as I can.??
While Pacquiao has indicated he wants to fight Horn again and says he will pick up where he left off in Round 9 when he had the Fighting Schoolteacher reeling, even Horn?s trainer Glenn Rushton is advising Pacquiao to take a less gruelling option. Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor Picture: Getty Images
He said Horn would be even stronger for the rematch and that Pacquiao, at almost 39, was only inviting more pain.
Arum has warned the welterweight division that Horn is in for the long haul.
?He is a tough, tough kid and he is probably the strongest welterweight in the world,?? Arum told reporters in America this week.
?If it was just an alley fight, I would pick Horn against any welterweight out there. Obviously these are not alley fights, but Manny Pacquiao has never fought a fighter as strong, physically, as Horn.
?As far as Mayweather is concerned, he announced that he?s not fighting anymore after the McGregor thing, and I believe him. As far as Crawford is concerned, we?ll see. He has a tough fight with Julius Indongo. That?s a great fight in Nebraska on August 19.
?Crawford will fight at least one more time this year. If Jeff Horn does not fight Manny Pacquiao in a rematch, Jeff Horn will fight anybody he said, and that could possibly be Crawford.
?Do I think Crawford is better than Horn? Probably. I think Crawford is one of the best fighters in the world, but you can?t count out a kid like Horn.??
Arum says Pacquiao paid a terrible price for underestimating Horn?s strength and toughness.
?Horn was relatively unknown because nobody would listen to me, but I saw him fight last year in Auckland on the Parker-Ruiz card, and I told everybody that he was a big, strong welterweight who would give Manny Pacquiao or any other welterweight trouble,?? Arum said. Jeff Horn celebrates beating Manny Pacquiao in their WBO welterweight championship title fight. Picture: Getty Images
?I thought the fight [between Horn and Pacquiao] was very, very close. I had it scored six rounds to six, and I thought Manny should have got a 10-8 round in the ninth round. I had Manny winning by one point. So if the judges have Horn winning seven rounds to five, you can?t argue with that. I had Manny winning the eleventh round and the judges had Horn winning the eleventh round, and that was the difference.?
Horn has also tossed up the idea of a bout with England?s popular former world champ Amir Khan.
?Khan?s a brilliant boxer,?? Horn said. ?But everyone knows he?s chinny. If he gets hit on the chin he?s going to sleep.??
ZAYA CARTER ONE TO WATCH
YOUNG gun Isaiah ?Zaya? Carter is following in Horn?s footsteps on his way through Australia?s amateur ranks.
He?s from the same stable at the Stretton Boxing Club and trainer Glenn Rushton says that like Horn he is an unlikely looking champion.
?He?s just like Jeff was 10 years ago,?? Rushton said.
?He started off as a shy, geeky kid but he?s showing that real competitive fire and I think he?s going to go places in boxing.??
Carter, 18, will be one of 32 fighters from the South Pacific taking part in the Elite Boxing Championship that starts at the Souths Sports Club in Acacia Ridge, on Sunday. Glenn Rushton with Jeff Horn. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen
There will be 16 bouts to be televised by ESPN, showcasing Australia?s best amateur boxers to the world.
?Like Jeff, Zaya doesn?t look like a tough guy but he has a real inner fire,?? Rushton said.
?He?ll be the smallest and least experienced kid in the 63kg division but I?ve seen him clipping 110kg boxers in the gym.
?It was like watching a Chihuahua getting stuck into a Great Dane.
?He finished high school last year and is concentrating on boxing for two years to see what he can achieve.
?He?s a very humble, unassuming kid. He?s so na?ve that when I told him I was impressed he had so much `ticker? Zaya asked me ? `what?s ticker mean???
One of the main bouts of Sunday?s tournament is the expected showdown between two of the world?s top female fighters, Skye Nicolson and Jessica Retallack.
HONOURS AT HALL OF FAME
THANKS so much to Jeff Horn, Glenn Rushton and their families for supporting my induction into the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday.
It was a very special day at the Showmen?s Club at Yatala as long-time Palm Island trainer Ray Dennis, former Australian champions Neil Pattel and Tony Ryder and 1920s great Archie Bradley ? The Gympie Whirlwind ? were also inducted.
