It appears that Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent will be a surprise to the boxing world as it was hardly mentioned in any of the previous news articles following his convincing unanimous decision win over Jessie Vargas in November to wrest the WBO welterweight championship belt.
Latest reports now have it that Manny Pacquiao will be defending his championship against the fighting school teacher from Brisbane, Jeff Horn.
More importantly, the fight will be held in Australia, much to the delight of the Australians as they would love to see the legendary fighting Senator from the Philippines on their shores for the very first time, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
At 38 years old, Manny Pacquiao is regarded as a world boxing celebrity with 11 world titles in a career that has lasted 22 years.
Meanwhile, Jeff Horn is 28 years old and is a former teacher at Brisbane’s Pallara State School near Forest Lake and is Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk’s second cousin, that is, the son of Cr Quirk’s cousin.
In a recent pronouncement, Cr Quirk said that Manny Pacquiao is a legend in the boxing world and that the Filipino boxing icon is probably the biggest boxing name in the world right now.
He earned $100 million for a May 2015 bout against Floyd Mayweather, billed as “The Fight of the Century” and reportedly donated some of the winnings to hospitals in the Philippines.
Brisbane-born Horn, the kind-talking, tough welterweight is the No. 2 contender to Pacquiao’s crown after turning professional in 2013.
A landmark sporting event
If Suncorp Stadium wins the right to hold the fight, Brisbane would host one of 2017’s landmark sporting events.
Pundits are predicting almost 50,000 could turn up to see the fight, although venues are also booked in Sydney and other sites on Australia’s east coast.
Previous boxing bouts have drawn close to 40,000 people and the first fight between world champion Jeff Fenech and Azumah Nelson drew 38,000 fans.
Cr Quirk said that he heard confirmation of the fight between the pair in Australia last week, after there were some earlier doubts. However, he also added that the boxing world moves very, very quickly, so he just hopes that the news is accurate.
A major coup for Horn
Cr Quirk said the fight against Pacquiao was a major coup for the young Brisbane boxer. He pointed out that Horn had his first amateur fight around the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Jeff Horn was chosen as the Australian representative to the next Olympics, the London Olympics, thereafter where he just missed out on the bronze medal. Horn turned professional when he returned from the 2012 London Olympics.
Horn is still undefeated after 17 professional fights and just last month, he knocked out South African veteran Ali Funeka while Bob Arum was watching at ringside in Auckland, New Zealand. It was regarded by critics as the reason why Horn became an instant opponent of Pacquiao.
Cr Quirk said Horn’s career and success have come quite swiftly. He added that the decision over whether Brisbane would host the fight at Suncorp Stadium would come down to commercial sponsors.
Horn’s promoters, New Zealand company Duco Events, have been in the US holding a discussion with Top Rank chief executive Bob Arum, Manny Pacquiao’s promoter.
According to initial reports, the fight between Pacquiao and Horn would happen either on April 22 or April 23 but the venue has yet to be confirmed.
There are moves to have the fight held at the Lang Park, though elsewhere in Australia, such as the United Arab Emirates and the US remain as options should organizers in Queensland fail to present something concrete to host the event, reports ABC.net of Australia.
Arum has been fascinated with Horn because he believes that the former school teacher and Olympian has the ability and image to carve out a US fan base in the near future.